Even a couple of months after the season, the UConn women's basketball program had a weekend to remember.

The highlight was former national player of the year Kara Wolters becoming the third member of UConn's first national championship team to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rebecca Lobo was the first former Husky honored as she was a part of the Class of 2010, three years later it was Jen Rizzotti's turn.

Kara Wolters, Louise O'Neal and rest of Hall of Fame class
(photo courtesy of Women's Basketball Hall of Fame)

Wolters gave a tremendous and emotional acceptance speech, paid homage to her late mom and was escorted at the induction by her two daughters.

Wolters wasn't the only inductee with Connecticut ties as former Southern Connecticut State coach Louise O'Neal was a member of the class as well.

O'Neal coached the Owls from 1962-76 and helped Southern Connecticut be the only school to play in the first eight National Women's College Championships (an event that predated the NCAA tournament). The Owls finished third in 1973 and 1974 (losing by a combined six points in the semifinals both years) and also advanced to the semifinals in 1975.

After taking Southern Connecticut from a club program to a national powerhouse, O'Neal continued to make an impact even after her coaching career came to an end. She was the former president of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and served on the NCAA Long-Range Planning Committee, Women’s Basketball Rules Committee, Sears Cup Selection Committee and NACDA Executive Board.

Getting back to UConn, 10 former Huskies had double-digit scoring games and for those wondering, second on that list over the weekend was Duke with six followed by Notre Dame's four.

Stefanie Dolson had a career-high 25 points for Chicago while rookie Saniya Chong had her first career double-digit scoring game with 10 points against Minnesota on Sunday which came two days after she netted a career-best seven points. Breanna Stewart (23 points), Sue Bird (21 points), Moriah Jefferson (18 points), Renee Montgomery (13) and Bria Hartley (10) all set or matched their season highs. Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, who each celebrated birthdays on Sunday, had games with 27 and 17 points respectively while Tina Charles had a 21-point game.



UConn legend Diana Taurasi closing in on pair
of WNBA career soring records

Taurasi is now 28 points shy of Tina Thompson's WNBA record for most points scored in the regular season. Thompson had 7,488 points in 496 career games while Taurasi has 7,460 in 375 games. Bird recently passed Delisha Milton-Jones to moved into ninth place on that list although it's going to take a while to move up to No. 8 as she is 243 points behind Becky Hammon. If playoff points were included, Taurasi would trail record-holder Tamika Catchings by 66 points.

On Sunday some players who could land at UConn were able to lead the U.S. to the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Aliyah Boston, a forward from Worcester and a player very much on UConn's recruiting radar, was named the tournament's MVP. Boston had 15 points and six rebounds in the win over Canada in the gold medal game. She led the U.S. in scoring (11.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.6) in the tournament.

Fellow Class of 2019 UConn recruiting target Samanta Brunelle averaged 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.2 blocked shots in the five games and was the team captain. Paige Bueckers and Zia Cooke were other double-digit scorers for the U.S. in the tourney. In the title game, the top scorer was the team's youngest player Azzi Fudd from Falls Church, Va. The 14-year-old Fudd had 18 points as she was 4 of 6 from 3-point range. She also had five steals. Not bad for somebody who is several months away from the start of her freshman season of high school basketball. I would have to think her high school games will feature just a few college coaches in the stands.

The team was coached by another veteran of UConn's 1995 national championship team Carla Berube, the head coach at Tufts.

“We just kept getting stop after stop,” Berube said in the USA Basketball release on the gold-medal game. “In the first quarter, I thought we allowed them to get a lot of easy drives. They were getting to the rim on us. In the second quarter, we really shut that down and got some important defensive rebounds, and that was leading to easy offense. When you get stop after stop, it’s hard to sustain us in transition, because we have athletes and players who can make plays in transition and make plays for each other. It was awesome to watch. For a team that has not been together very long, they worked really well together.”

Finally, I've been out of the loop a little basketball wise over the last few days because of my responsibilities covering the semifinals and championship games in the CIAC softball tournament. While I was there I caught up with UConn incoming softball freshman Brianna Marcelino.

Marcelino scored from first base on a single and later drove in a run as Barlow won its first state title with a 4-2 win over Torrington in the Class L final.

There will be a story on Marcelino going up on the www.gametimect.com site later today focusing mostly on the state final and fact that Marcelino grew up in Madison (along with fellow UConn signee Hollis Wivell) before the family moved to Easton when she was in eighth grade. Heading into the state semifinals, she was batting .617 with 43 runs, 41 RBIs, 10 doubles, 12 homers, 21 stolen bases and just four errors.

Earlier in her career former UConn star Renee Montgomery was asked to provide offense whenever she was in the game as she averaged at least 10 points per game in four of her first five seasons.

However, when Montgomery joined a star-studded Minnesota team last July, she wasn't going to be asked to shoot at will. Montgomery was asked to be more responsible with the ball, bring defensive energy off the bench and when given the opportunity to take an open shot.

Montgomery posted the best assist/turnover ratio of her professional career in the 19 regular-season games she played with the Lynx last season. This season she is averaging more steals per 40 minutes of her career.

"A team like ours when we have so many weapons, you have to find a niche for yourself so ball pressuring and 3s will be good ones for me," Montgomery said before Thursday's game at Connecticut. "The coaching stuff instilled so much confidence in me as a player that if I see the rim and I am open, I get yelled at all the time that I don't shoot the ball enough. They have a lot of confidence in me as a player so that helps with how you perform."

That was never more evident than in the closing moments of the clash of undefeated teams when Montgomery hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left in a 72-69 win at Los Angeles.

"They don't just talk the talk," Montgomery said. "It is one thing that they say 'we need you to shoot' but when you shoot they get mad and if you miss it they will get you mad and take you out. They are not like that. They want me to shoot shots because they think I can make shots so for her (Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve) to draw up a play for me to shoot in one of the biggest games in WNBA history, it proves they are not just giving me lip service, they really believe that.

"Those are the games when you are working out, nobody is in the gym and you are imagining you are shooting the last shot. Everybody sees somebody doing '3-2-1.' Those are the kinds of games where all that working out, that is the game you are preparing for."

Lynx star Maya Moore, the all-time leading scorer in UConn history, also reflected back on one of the most hyped regular-season games in recent WNBA history.

"If you are in a competitor you want to be in those situations where there is a little extra something added to the game with two teams having a chance to play each other going in undefeated," Moore said. "It was a fun game and I was glad we were able to finish it the way we wanted to. We learned a lot."

Speaking of learning lessons, Montgomery and Moore are two of six freshmen at UConn to play at least 1,000 minutes. While it is uncertain how many minutes highly-touted freshman Crystal Dangerfield will play, she figures to have a prominent role so I asked Montgomery what advice she would give to Dangerfield.
"I would just tell her to take it all in, whatever Coach Auriemma says, you have to ignore the delivery and listen to the message," Montgomery said. "He might go off on you for a long period of time but the point is to take care of the ball. Sometimes you have to ignore the delivery and listen to the message."

TOUGH BREAK FOR BANHAM
After Thursday's overtime victory Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller said rookie guard Rachel Banham would undergo knee surgery that should keep her out through the Olympic break. It turns out her time on the sidelines will be longer than that.

Banham had season-ending micro-fracture surgery on her right knee Friday at the Constitution Surgery Center in Waterford. Banham will need between 4-6 months of rehabilitation before she returns to the court.

“While we are obviously disappointed to lose Rachel for the remainder of the season, we remain tremendously excited about her bright future with the Sun,” Miller said in a statement. “Rachel showed the potential to be an impact player in this league despite playing through significant pain for the majority of the season. We really appreciate her grit and determination to play when less than 100 percent, but it is now time for her to concentrate on her rehab so she can come back healthy for her second season."

Banham averaged 3.7 points in 10.9 minutes per game while shooting 35 percent from 3-point range. She had two double-digit scoring games. Her final stint with the team as a rookie came when she played 4:34 in the overtime win. The only time she saw after halftime was the 3.1 seconds she was on the court late in overtime with the Sun up by two and Miller opting to put his best foul shooters on the court with the Sun leading by two points with 10.9 seconds left to play. After Alex Bentley made the first of two free throws, Banham checked out of the game.

While there is no good time for an injury like this to happen, Connecticut is in a better situation after recently acquiring USF star Courtney Williams as part of a trade that sent Kelsey Bone to Phoenix. Williams played more than any other Sun player after the first quarter in the Minnesota game.

Even before the season began the injury bug was proving to have quite the appetite in the camp of the Connecticut Sun as veteran forward Asjha Jones made the decision to take the entire 2013 season off to recover from a variety of ailments and underrated wing Danielle McCray would also be sidelined for the entire season due to an injury she suffered playing overseas. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

If there was one image from last night's Sun/Washington Mystics game it was seeing Renee Montgomery, Kara Lawson and Tan White all in street clothes unable to play. Predictably, down the stretch the Sun struggled offensively without three of its best perimeter offensive players.

If you include Jones, McCray and Jessica Moore (who was not re-signed and promptly was picked up by Washington) the Sun played without players who accounted for 52 percent of the team's offense during the 2012 season and made 172 of the team's 199 3-pointers.

The good news is that Lawson's injury is considered to be day by day and there is a chance she will be back when the Sun return to action on Wednesday with a game at Indiana. However, Montgomery and White likely won't be back until next month.

Montgomery suffered a high ankle sprain during a gruesome-looking tumble to court late in a loss to Chicago while White broke the middle finger on her right hand during practice earlier this week. Both are expected to miss at least three weeks.

Montgomery has not watched replays of the injury nor is she planning to.

"I got hit on the screen and I went down and it was bad," Montgomery said before Friday's loss to the Mystics. "When he (Sun trainer Jeremy Norman) came out, I didn't know what was hurt and I just said 'my leg' but it was a bad fall. I never missed a game in junior high, high school, college or pros.. This is the first time I had to miss a game before." 

Montgomery realizes that the way that her leg bent backwards on the fall that she could have easily found herself on the sidelines for a much longer period than just three or four weeks.

"I feel blessed," Montgomery said. "I didn't go back and look at it but when it happened I knew it was bad. I could have been out the whole season the way the fall happened so I know I am blessed."

Right now Montgomery needs to stay off the injured ankle as much as possible. During games she will wear a walking boot but the rest of the time she will get around with the help of crutches.

White will be able to start doing cardio workouts in a couple of days. She is wearing a splint to protect her entire hand.

White said she was defending rookie Kelly Faris in practice and when Faris drove by, she swiped at the ball as she had done countless times during practices and games in her professional career. She missed the ball and made contact with Faris' arm. At first White thought she might have just jammed the finger but further examination the following day revealed that she had broken the finger. With her injury coming so soon after Montgomery went down left the Sun rather thin in perimeter options coming off the bench.

"It can happen on any team," White said. "It is not something that we planned to do intentionally but if you are playing the game these kinds of injuries come all the time. It is a bad situation to have both of us being out at the same time. It is what it is, mine is a short injury and hopefully I will recover and be back quickly.

"This is opportunity for everybody to step up because we need everybody to do a little extra and from here on until we get back and it is a great opportunity for these young players."

Faris is one of the young players who has impressed White especially with the way she played defensively against another former UConn star (Maya Moore) in the Sun's recent loss to Minnesota.

"She has responded well," White said. "At training camp she didn't get to play that much because she was injured but just to play such a tough team in Minnesota, she came out and showed defensively that she can be a stopper. I am excited to continue see her grow and have her put in a position where she can find a role here."

OPENING NIGHT FUNDRAISER A SUCCESS

The Connecticut Sun donated ticket sales from the season-opening win against New York to the American Red Cross to aid those impacted by the deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma.

The Sun doesn't want to make it look like they were engaging in a publicity stunt so there will be no ceremony with a check being presented to officials from the Red Cross but I was told last night that approximately $16,000 was raised.

MONTGOMERY THRILLED FOR FORMER HUSKY

Montgomery didn't cross paths with fellow former UConn point guard Jen Rizzotti that much during her time with the Huskies but she still admitted to feeling a sense of pride that Rizzotti is becoming the second former UConn player to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame later today.

"I don't know if it is the culture that UConn has created but even if you haven't had much contact with somebody who is a UConn alum you still have this mutual understanding of friendship and camaraderie so I am happy for her and proud she is going into the Hall of Fame." 

The Connecticut Sun announced that guard Renee Montgomery is expected to miss the next three to four weeks due to a sprained ankle.

Montgomery injured her ankle in a loss to Chicago on Friday and missed Saturday's game against Minnesota. She underwent an MRI earlier today which confirmed that she had a sprained ankle.

Montgomery, a member of UConn's 2008-09 undefeated national championship team, hadn't missed a game in her first four seasons in the league. Montgomery has averaged 13 points per game in 104 career regular-season games with the Sun and averaged 9 points per game as a rookie with Minnesota in 2009.

The Sun return to action when it hosts Washington, coached by former Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault, on Friday.

Whenever Johannah Leedham had to pick between heading over to try out for the WNBA's Connecticut Sun or fulfilling her obligations with the Great Britain national team she would always chose the latter - until now.

Great Britain is currently in the midst of its latest training camp as it prepares for the EuroBasket championships in June. However, Leedham politely declined the offer to join her teammates so she could finally head over to the U.S. in an attempt to earn a spot in the WNBA.


"It is a little difficult for me to be here but I put it off for so long," Leedham said. "I had to put myself first and this is what I want to do. We have EuroBasket which is in June so if I don't make the team here, I will also go back and try to make EuroBasket but this is my focus."

Leedham left her home in Ellesmere Port, England to head over the U.S. because basketball in her home country is simply not a major priority. She landed at Cheshire Academy and her play was impressive enough for her to catch the eye of the coaches at Division II Franklin Pierce. All Leedham did in her four years in Rindge, N.H. was score an NCAA Division II record 3,050 points. Late in her senior season she was a bit shocked when she saw Mike Thibault, then the Connecticut Sun head coach, in the stands for one of the Ravens' games. She was even more surprised when Thibault used the 27th overall pick in the 2010 draft on the 5-foot-11 guard/forward.

Now she is back in the U.S. hoping to earn a roster spot with the Sun.

“I am excited to have this opportunity,” Leedham said. “I know (former Sun) Coach (Mike) Thibault is the one who brought me in but Coach (Anne) Donovan came in and they still invited me to camp. It is so competitive every day and just to be in this environment is what you dream of as a basketball player.”


The ironic aspect is that Leedham said she never dreamed of playing in the WNBA even when she made the decision to leave her Ellesmere Port, England home to attend Cheshire Academy and it wasn’t until Thibault made the trip to see her play during the final season in her record-breaking career at Franklin Pierce that she even pondered the possibilities of a professional basketball career.

After a couple of seasons playing professionally, Leedham exploded onto the scene by tying for the lead in the 2012 Olympics with an average of 16.2 points per game.Connecticut Sun assistant coach Jen Gillom was an assistant coach on the gold-medal winning U.S. team which faced Leedham’s Great Britain squad during the preliminary round. Gillom considered Leedham’s competitiveness to be perhaps her best attribute during the Olympics and her opinion of Leedham’s game has not changed.

“She is a fundamentally sound player who goes out and plays 100 percent every single (moment),” Gillom said. “She is not the type of player who is very fancy, show offish, she goes out and gets her job done. It kind of goes unnoticed from time to tome but when the game is over with and you look at the stats, you are kind of surprised at what she has done during the game but there have been several occasions that I noticed her during the Olympic tournament where she did shine and you saw some potential there and you think 'wow, this kid could be a great ball player. Even when she played against us I thought she did well. Even in the last day or two at training camp she has showed that she demands that respect and that is what I like about her. She goes all out and if you don't watch it she can have about 20 on you before you know it. I think she will stick around and make us make a tough decision.”

Although her Great Britain team did not win a game in the Olympics, it was an experience that Leedham won't soon forget.


"The Olympics were amazing," Leedham said. "It is hard to explain. Coming out for the first game and the arena is full and it is 10 o'clock at night, standing up, hearing our national anthem and our whole crowd 12,000 people sing it with you it was just an amazing feeling.

"We didn't win a game but we left everything out there. I think we lost games because we lacked experience, we lacked knowledge and we made bad decisions but that was all inexperience but we got where we were because we fought hard. We knew we left the Olympics knowing that people hated to play us. We were the team that nobody wanted to play. We knew we did our job and people respected us and that is ultimately a win for us, we were definitely proud of our performance.

First-round pick Kelly Faris was held out of practice due to a foot injury she suffered in UConn’s regular-season finale. Tina Charles and Tan White also didn’t practice on Tuesday but it was more of a case of resting and allowing some of the younger players to get looks by the Sun coaching staff. Renee Montgomery is expected to report to camp on Thursday which will put Connecticut over the 15-player training camp limit so a player will need to be cut before Montgomery reports.

In recent weeks there have been no lack of updates on where Kelly Faris ranks on UConn's career charts.

However, when I think of what Faris contributes to the team it does not come down to the number of points, rebounds, assists or even steals that she gets on a nightly basis but the way that everything she does is about trying to win games. Faris, who will move into a tie with Ann Strother for the number of games played, is currently 10th all-time at UConn in the number of victories she has been on the court for..

Faris could finish as high as No. 5 on this list if UConn were to win the remainder of its games.

Here is the list
1. Maya Moore 150-4
2. Kalana Greene 148-9
3. Tiffany Hayes 147-7
4. Tina Charles 146-6
5. Renee Montgomery 139-11
6. Lorin Dixon 136-4
    Diana Taurasi 136-8
   Ashley Battle 136-13
9. Asjha Jones 135-9
10. Kelly Faris 133-9 (heading into tonight).

CURTIS EKMARK HONORED
Curtis Ekmark, the head coach and father of UConn commit Courtney Ekmark, was named the WBCA National High School Coach of the Year after leading St. Mary's to a 29-1 record and Arizona Division I state title.


Ekmark has a 154-21 record in six seasons at St. Mary's
.
Ekmark will also coach the Purple team in the WBCA High School All-American Game and one of the players he will be coaching is UConn signee Saniya Chong out of Ossining (N.Y.) High School. The roster of the Purple team has some familiar names as former UConn recruiting targets Taya Reimer, Diamond DeShields (who was named the WBCA National Player of the Year), Erica McCall, Stephanie Mavunga and Karlie Samuelson are all on that squad.

The game will be played on Apr. 6 at the New Orleans Arena. Courtney Ekmark, a junior guard, is planning to join Curtis at the Final Four.

Former UConn star Swin Cash will be the honorary co-captain of the Black team while Tamika Catchings will be the honorary co-captain for the Purple squad.

Former UConn star Tina Charles was her normal brilliant self with 28 points and 15 rebounds as she did all she could to help Wisla Can-Pack close out its first round series in the EuroLeague playoffs.

However, her teammates were a combined 3 for 31 as they lost to Bourges Basket 50-38 in game two of the best of three series. The teams will meet in a winner take all third game on Wednesday.

Charles had 24 points, including three in the final two seconds, and 11 rebounds in a 57-54 win in the opener.

Charles' Connecticut Sun teammate Renee Montgomery saw her team's championship hopes end as Nadezhda lost 76-70 to CCC Polkowice in the second game to get swept out of the playoffs.

Montgomery had 12 points, three rebounds and an assist in the loss.

The EuroLeague regular season came to an end yesterday and former UConn star Tina Charles finished as the EuroLeague leader in nine different categories including scoring (24.1), rebounding (12.1) and double-doubles (7) for Wisla Can-Pack.

Charles was also the leader in defensive rebounds (9.3), 2-point field goals attempted as well as total field goals attempted (19.0), field goals made (10.0), 2-point field goals made (10.0) and minutes (36.8).

The playoffs kick off  with best of three series starting on Feb. 19. Charles and Wisla Can-Pack will play Bourges Basket in the round of 16. Among the players on the Bourges Basket team is former Cheshire Academy star Johannah Leedham, who averaged 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the two games she played in late in the regular season.

Renee Montgomery, Charles' former UConn teammate and current teammate with the Connecticut Sun, is the second-leading scorer for the Nadezhda squad which plays CCC Polkowice in the first-round series. Montgomery averaged 14.2 points per game during the regular season.

UMMC Ekaterinburg, which features former Huskies Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Also, former UConn stars Swin Cash and Maya Moore will be taking part in the Shooting Stars competition at the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 in Houston. Cash will be on the East squad along with Chris Bosh, Tamika Catchings, Brook Lopez, Muggsy Bogues and Dominique Wilkins while Moore will team with Sam Cassell, James Harden, Robert Horry,  Tina Thompson and Russell Westbrook on the West squad.

I thought I would pass on a Super Bowl related  question and answer session the WNBA folks did with Connecticut Sun guard and former UConn star Renee Montgomery and Courtney Paris.

How long have you been a fan of the Ravens/49ers and what prompted you to be such a fan?
Montgomery: I’ve been a Ravens fan since 2009. I became a fan then because they drafted one of my good friends, Ray Rice. I am a die-hard Ravens fan but I will also be rooting for San Francisco’s Randy Moss to do well in the Super Bowl because he, too, is from West Virginia and he supports me so I definitely will be supporting him.... I just don't want him to do so well that he beats us.
Paris: I was sort of born to be a 49ers fan. My dad played most of his NFL career there and I grew up in the Bay Area so it’s just my nature to cheer for them; especially with the dynasty they had back in the 80’s and 90’s. How could I – or anyone for that matter -- not be a Niners fan?!

What is your fondest Ravens/49ers memory?
Montgomery: My fondest memory would have to be any time the Ravens beat the Steelers because their fans are THE worst...I’m not going to name any names because SWIN CASH would be mad if I did.
Paris: My dad was already retired by the time I was old enough to truly follow the sport, so my greatest memory had to be in the 90’s when Jerry Rice and Steve Young were running things and winning Super Bowls.

What is your favorite article of Ravens/49ers swag?
Montgomery: I’ve got a custom fitted Ravens jersey; I treat it like a super exclusive pair of shoes, I don't wear it often, only on special occasions. The Super Bowl will be one of those occasions.
Paris: My favorite had to be back in the day I had this 49ers letterman’s jacket that I loved. Wish I still had that thing!

Do you have any particular superstitions you adhere to when rooting for the Ravens/49ers?
Montgomery: Nope.
Paris: Nope.

When you’re playing overseas in the winter, how do you follow the Ravens/49ers? Do you stay in touch with fellow fans by phone/email/Skype, etc.?
Montgomery: I usually tweet about the games and interact with other Ravens fans that way. I have a Slingbox so I can watch the games live if I’m not traveling.
Paris: Of course there is espn.com and other Internet sites I can check. But also here in Turkey they show American football games on cable TV. Sometimes they’re live; but most times they’re not. I will know the outcome but still enjoy watching the game – especially that NFC Championship Game win against the Falcons!!!

Where will you be when the Super Bowl is played on Feb. 3? Will you be able to watch it and are you making any special plans to do so?
Montgomery: On February 3rd I have a big game (in Russia) vs. Spartak. A couple of the players on their team are fellow WNBA players Seimone Augustus, Candice Dupree, and Becky Hammon. So hopefully I can have 2 big wins that day.
Paris: I will be in Adana, Turkey, either attending or hosting a Super Bowl party.

One key theme for this Super Bowl is that brothers John and Jim Harbaugh serve as head coach of the Ravens and 49ers.  Which one is more handsome and why?
Montgomery: Hmm... Well first I had to go back and Google them because I really never paid that much attention to their looks. But after doing that, of course I’m going with the Ravens’ coach, John.
Paris: Jim of course! Aside from looking dashing in 49ers’ gear, you have to go with the younger brother!

Why will YOUR TEAM win?
Montgomery: My team – got that Courtney, my team – will win because of their passion, led by Ray Lewis. They aren't going to let his retirement party end the wrong way.
Paris: Because the 49ers are the best team in the NFL! With our off-season additions our roster is loaded with talent. Colin Kaepernick stepping in has given the team an even more confident mindset. In the NFC Championship we came back from 17 points down to beat Atlanta. Plus San Francisco in general has got something going in sports…the Giants won the World Series, so now It’s the 49ers time to shine!

What is your prediction for the Super Bowl in terms of score?
Montgomery: I’m terrible at predicting the score, but both teams are defensively oriented so I would predict a low scoring game.
Paris: Low scoring but with the 49ers on top.

Renee, what does the 49ers’ defense most have to fear about the Ravens’ offense led by Ray Rice, Joe Flacco, and Anquan Boldin particular?
Montgomery: Hey Diddle Diddle.... Ray Rice up the middle!!!!!
 
Renee, what is it about Ravens’ LB Ray Lewis that makes him so inspirational to his teammates? Also, who in your basketball career might be compared to Ray Lewis as a leader, and why?
Montgomery: He speaks from the heart and backs up every word he says. He doesn't just talk a good game; he has proven himself over a large number of years and earned the respect of not only his teammates but of his opponents.

If you were to engage in some fun trash-talking to Courtney about the Super Bowl, what would you want to say?
Montgomery: Maybe next year...
Paris: Although it would be a story book ending for Ray Lewis, it’s just not going to happen. Sorry, Ray….Oh, and sorry, Renee!

Renee, if the Ravens win what should Courtney have to do to honor your victory?
Montgomery: Well if she is on Twitter I would love her to send me a congratulations tweet and also post a pic holding up a sign that says, "Ravens are the 2013 Super Bowl Champs."

Courtney, if the 49ers win what should Renee have to do to honor your victory?
Paris: I would love for Renee to make a sign that says “49ers are the World Champions” with some lovely red and gold decor - take a picture and tweet tweet.

Before taking the court in search of their first WNBA playoff victory former UConn stars Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery were summoned to the interview stage inside Mohegan Sun Arena along with Connecticut Sun teammate Kara Lawson.

Charles and Montgomery have known for two days that they were named the winners of the MVP and Sixth  Woman of the Year award but it did not become official until the press conference before last year's playoff opener.

WNBA president Laurel Richie captured the essence of both former UConn stars when she recalled the conversations she had with the two of them when she called to inform them that they were winning the prestigious awards.


"When I called Renee two days ago to let her know about this award and said you have to keep this quiet for 48 hours  she said 'oh my God, I think keeping it quiet for 48 hours is going to be harder than everything I ad to do to win the award in the first place.' So Renee I am congratulating twice both for winning the award and for the incredible fortitude it took to keep it quiet."

That was followed by the highlight of the evening's festivities. Montgomery and Richie were posing for photos when the trophy came apart and crashed onto the stage. Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault, sitting in the front row, deadpanned "I'm glad it didn't land on your foot."

Then came the time for Richie to announce that Charles joins 2009 MVP Diana Taurasi as the only UConn product to win the WNBA's top individual award.

"I had to ask her if she was OK because she was crying with such, I don't know if it was relief or excitement but I literally had to say Tina are you still there, are you OK?"

Richie, imitating Charles' blubbering, brought a huge smile to Charles face when she recalled that an emotional Charles said "I am still here."

Charles found out to Tuesday's practice and according to Mike DiMauro of The Day of New London, she threw her arms around Thibault and thanked him countless times.

"Ever since I got drafted by the Connecticut Sun he definitely gave me the confidence to go out and play my best and definitely helped me in that area," Charles said. "I think he makes it comfortable for everybody to come out ad explore your game. He allows us to make mistakes and then correct it. He is a great coach, he communicates with us, he is there for us, he does his best to discipline us. He tells us what he wants for us individually and that is one of the main things you want from coaches is communication. During my career with the Connecticut Sun that is the kind of relationship I want with him and he allows that."

Montgomery, who started 57 of the 68 games she played for the Sun in her first two seasons, was told by Thibault before the season that Lawson would be starting and Montgomery would be coming off the bench. For a player accustomed to starting it was not a move that thrilled her but she finished the regular season averaging 11.6 points per game despite not starting a game.

"I just wanted to do whatever role was given to me," Montgomery said. "At the end of the day this is your job so if your boss tells you to do something you should do it. I wasn't going to help my team or myself just sitting around sulking about not starting. As long as this is helping the team then I am fine with it."

Lawson was recognized as the winner of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award while Richie also announced that Mohegan Sun Arena would host the 2013 WNBA All-Star Game.

Then came the most important matter for the Sun, securing the franchise's first playoff win since 2008. Connecticut beat New York 65-60 to take the 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal. Ironically, the last Sun playoff victory also came against the Liberty on Sep. 20, 2008. The only holdovers from the teams are Connecticut's Asjha Jones and New York's Essence Carson and Leilani Mitchell.

Updating my entry from yesterday regarding the game times on UConn schedule, UConn has posted all of its start times. The only changes/additions are that the Jan. 9 Georgetown game will start at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 26 game at Cincinnati starts at 8 p.m. and not 7 p.m. Look for SNY to announce the games it will be televising soon.

Here is a link to the schedule


Also, last night the Connecticut Sun announced its all-time team as part of the celebration of the 10th season of the franchise being in Connecticut.

Four former UConn players (Tina Charles, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery and Nykesha Sales) made the list along with the late Margo Dydek, current WNBA stars on other teams (Katie Douglas, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen) as well as current Sun players Kara Lawson and Tan White.

It's hard to argue with the selections although if I were voting I would have given serious consideration to putting Sandrine Gruda on the team.

Playing without Asjha Jones and down by 12 points with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter, it appeared as if the Connecticut Sun would head into the Olympic break on a losing note. But keyed by eight points from Renee Montgomery, the Sun rallied to force overtime and then emerged with an improbable 80-78 win. The victory extended Connecticut's winning streak to a season-high five games and gives the Sun a 4 game lead over second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings. Connecticut's 15-4 record ties defending WNBA champion Minnesota for the best record in the league.

Tina Charles led the Sun with 25 points and 13 points while Mistie Mims, who is proving to be one of the best free agent signings in the league this year, started in place of Jones and had 19 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Montgomery, who had 26 points in her previous five games, had 15 points.

Former UConn guard Tiffany Hayes has agreed to terms to play in Israel with Hapoel Rishon when the WNBA season is over. Below is a link to the official release from the team. The translation to English is not perfect but it gets the job done.

http://www.ibba.one.co.il/General/Article.aspx?id=202191&siteId=6


Here's an unofficial list of where the former UConn players are planning to play this winter
Svetlana Abrosimova, Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
Sue Bird, UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia)
Tina Charles, Wisla Can-Pack (Poland)
Tiffany Hayes Hapoel Rishon (Israel)
Charde Houston, Maccabi Ashdod (Israel)
Asjha Jones Kayseri Kaski (Turkey)
Kaili McLaren, Ramat Hasharon (Israel)
Renee Montgomery, Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia)
Maya Moore, Shangxu Xing Rui  Flame(China)
Diana Taurasi, UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia)

The Connecticut Sun released veteran forward Sidney Spencer on Wednesday meaning that unless the Sun picks up somebody off waivers that second-round pick Chay Shegog has made the team.

Spencer was signed by the Sun in the offseason to add some size and shooting ability at the forward position but obviously Shegog, a former North Carolina star, was impressive enough during the preseason to make her the only rookie on the 2012  Sun team. Shegog also provides some insurance in case Tina Charles' groin injury, which has reduced her to primarily being a spectator, limits the All-Star center.

Teams have until Friday to get down to the 11-player maximum. The Sun's 11-play squad consists of Charles, Asjha Jones, Kalana Greene, Renee Montgomery, Danielle McCray, Allison Hightower, Mistie Mims, Kara Lawson, Kelsey Griffin, Tan White and Shegog.

ESPN ANNOUNCES ITS WNBA BROADCAST SCHEDULE

ESPN released its 12-game schedule for the upcoming regular season.
Sun, May 20  Phoenix Mercury at Minnesota Lynx, 12:30 p.m. ABC
Wed, June 13 Los Angeles Sparks at Connecticut Sun, 8 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Sat, June 23 Chicago Sky at Minnesota Lynx, 12:30 p.m.  ESPN / ESPN3
                     Los Angeles Sparks at Phoenix Mercury,  9 p.m. ESPN / ESPN3
Tue, June 26 Seattle Storm at Washington Mystics,  7 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Sat, July 7 Seattle Storm at Los Angeles Sparks 10 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Thu, July 12 Los Angeles Sparks at Indiana Fever, 7 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Tue, Aug 21 Minnesota Lynx at Seattle Storm, 10 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Sat, Aug 25 Minnesota Lynx at Atlanta Dream, 7 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Wed, Sep 12 Seattle Storm at Indiana Fever,  7 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Tue, Sep18 New York Liberty at San Antonio Silver Stars, 8 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3
Sun, Sept 23Seattle Storm at Phoenix Mercury, 3 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN3

Tina Charles and Asjha Jones will play in the Olympics for the first time but there's no question that there's a different vibe surrounding the selections of two of the six former UConn players to the team.

Much of it is because Charles was pretty much considered to be a no-brainer pick and also she figures to have a chance at taking part in multiple Olympics. In the case of Jones, who is heading into her 12th WNBA season, this was likely her final chance to make the squad and the fact that she was the 12th and final player named to the team only added to the magnitude of the achievement,

"I was told I wasn’t on the team so I had no expectations of getting that 12th spot so for me I was already done with it," Jones said. "I was already moving on and I was still playing in Spain and I was worried about that.

"We knew that (Brittney) Griner had dropped out and I saw that Carol had called me She is texting me and saying you need to call me. I was at the Bank of America because somebody had stolen my card number and was shopping on it. I was there to fix that and that was when I talked to Carol outside the Bank of America so it was a pretty good day."

Perhaps only Asjha Jones could look at a day including somebody running up a tab on her credit card as a "pretty good day."

Jones joins her former UConn teammates Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi on the U.S. Olympic team. The fact that Bird, Cash and Jones were part of the same recruiting class makes the accomplishment all the more staggering.

The class already made history following up a perfect senior season by having Bird, Cash, Jones and Tamika Williams all go in the first six picks of the 2002 WNBA draft. Now three of them will be on the Olympic squad together.

"We are happy," Jones said. "Swin is all emotional about it about how all of us were going to play together again and how awesome it is. She is the type of person who puts things in perspective so talking to her made me think and made me realize how big it actually is, six (UConn players), four of us (from 2001-02 national championship team) and how amazing that was, she kind of put that in perspective for me."

Charles was among the first 11 players named to the team back in late March but even now the honor of being selected is something that means the world to her.

"It is definitely a special feeling, it is a blessing," Charles said.

"Especially with the time difference I would try to stay up and watch the Games or set my alarm clock so it is a dream come true for any athlete to go to the Olympics alone even if you win a medal or not, I think it is the ultimate.

I’ll be taking a lot of pictures, I will be looking forward to it but of course you have to key on the main task and that is the bring home the gold."

Montgomery was the only former UConn star in the player pool who failed to be named to the team. She was thrilled to see current teammates Charles and Jones as well as her former UConn teammate Maya Moore be named to the team  but was disappointed that she did not make the cut.
"It was definitely difficult," Montgomery said. "The Olympics are something that you don’t know where your body would be in four years and even though I am only 25 you don’t know what could happen with injuries or anything that could happen. Even in the Olympic year you could get selected and you could get hurt. It is not something you can take lightly because it is not something that next year I am going to go after it and I am going to make the team because it only comes around once every four years,. It goes from being a short term goal to going back to being a long term goal again and that is kind of tough. Obviously I wanted to make it in the worst way but then to see (three) of my real close friends make it, I am going to have a connection."

SPENCER REACTS TO PAT SUMMITT'S RETIREMENT
While former Tennessee star Kara Lawson is the Tennessee graduate from the Connecticut Sun who has been asked about Hall of Famer Pat Summitt's decision to relinquish day to day coaching responsibilities, there is another former Lady Vol playing with the Sun. So I asked Sidney Spencer about her take on Summitt's decision, which came about as a result of her battle with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type.

"She is an incredible coach, incredible mentor, incredible woman," Spencer said. "I think what she has done will continue to impact this game forever, I have a feeling that what she is going to do now as far as what she is going to contribute to different charity things will impact the world just as much as she has impacted the basketball world so I think there are great things to come.

"I have through word of mouth I have tried to call her. I know she has been pretty busy but I pray for her every night."

FIRST CUT COULD BE COMING THIS WEEKEND
With the Connecticut Sun having the maximum 15 players in training camp, a cut will need to be made when Mistie (Bass) Mims reports. That is expected to happen on Saturday so it will be interesting to see which of the players is the first to go.

Mims and Spencer, the other veteran added in the offseason, as well as returning players Jones, Charles, Montgomery, Lawson, Kalana Greene, Tan White, Danielle McCray, Kelsey Griffin and Allison Hightower won't be going anywhere. That leaves Jessica Breland, second-round pick Chay Shegog and undrafted players Dawn Evans, Brittany Carter and Stefanie Murphy (who is in training camp for the second straight year) as the candidates.

Speaking of Evans, she signed with Arras in the French pro league on Tuesday and on Wednesday the http://www.lovewomensbasketball.com/ site reported that Connecticut Sun first-round pick Astan Dabo also signed with Arras.

DATE ANNOUNCED FOR UCONN/MARYLAND GAME
It was already reported that UConn and Maryland will be playing in the 2012 Jimmy V Classic. Earlier today ESPN announced that the game will be played on Dec. 3. The game will be played on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at either Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center while the UConn men will play North Carolina State in the second game of a doubleheader on Dec. 4 at approximately 9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

The UConn women figure to be ranked second, only behind national champion Baylor, at the beginning of the 2012-13 season while Maryland should be a top 10 team so it will be a tough early test for both teams.

During the Final Four I asked Maryland's All-American sophomore forward Alyssa Thomas about the prospects of playing UConn.

"We are looking forward to playing them next year, they are a great team," Thomas said. "We are looking forward to playing them next year, they are a good team and a good program. Playing other teams from different conferences gives you different looks and prepares you going into the NCAA tournament."

The Tulsa Shock announced that it has invited former UConn guard Lorin Dixon to its training camp which, by my count, makes 12 former Huskies heading to WNBA training camps.

I'm not going to lie about being a little surprised about Dixon getting an invite. It will be interesting to see how she fares in training camp. I do think that her chance of making the Shock would increase dramatically if Tulsa were to schedule North Carolina in a preseason game or at least let Dixon go up against former North Carolina guard Cetera Degraffenreid, who seemed to bring the best out of Dixon.

All kidding aside, Dixon was a top prospect coming out of Christ the King who can be a disruptive force on the defensive end. She was not much of an offensive threat at UConn so for her to avoid being among the first cuts I would have to think she'd have to look for her own shot a little more than she did during her collegiate career. I'm hoping she'll be around long enough to take part in at least one preseason game. Tulsa plays at Atlanta in its first exhibition game on May 5 and wraps up its preseason schedule by hosting Seattle on May 11.

By my count seven of the WNBA's 12 teams will have UConn grads competing for roster spots. The Connecticut Sun leads the way with four players (Tina Charles, Kalana Greene, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery) while Atlanta (Tiffany Hayes, Ketia Swanier) and Phoenix (Charde Houston, Diana Taurasi) also have more than one former Husky heading to training camp. Chicago (Swin Cash), Minnesota (Maya Moore), Seattle (Sue Bird) and Tulsa (Dixon) have one UConn product each.

Speaking of UConn guards, Bria Hartley was among the 5,500 fans who were at Rentschler Field for UConn's spring football game on Saturday. She was joined by Michala Johnson, who is finishing out the semester before transferring to Wisconsin.

Baylor's Brittney Griner announced that she is withdrawing her name from consideration for a spot on the U.S. Olympic squad because of an illness to a family member as well as conflicts with her academic workload.

It was thought that Griner was the likely choice to be the final member of the U.S. team but now the door is opened for another player. Certainly former UConn star Asjha Jones is a strong candidate especially considering that she was recently named the MVP of the EuroLeague playoffs. However the first 11 players named to the squad was dominated by frontcourt players so it will be interesting to see if the selection committee chooses a guard like Lindsey Harding, 2008 Olympian Kara Lawson or former UConn star Renee Montgomery to complete the roster.

If either Jones or Montgomery gets the nod that would mean that half of the 12-member squad would have played collegiately for UConn and U.S. Olympic coach Geno Auriemma as Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi were among the 11 players already named to the team.

Here's a statement from USA Basketball about Griner's situation.

"It's unfortunate that Brittney is unable to participate with USA Basketball this summer, however, we have an extremely deep and talented USA National Team program and remain confident that we will field a very competitive team that all Americans will be very proud of," said USA Basketball Executive Director/CEO Jim Tooley. "This in no way precludes Brittney from future USA National Team events; she is a young and talented player with a bright future ahead of her in international basketball and we look forward to her continued involvement. We wish nothing but the best for Brittney and her family."

Since the WNBA's initial college draft in 1997 no university has produced first-round picks in five consecutive years. That could change Monday

If Tiffany Hayes is taken in the first round, something that seems rather likely, it would be the fifth straight year that a former Husky had their name called before the start of the second round. There are few things that make UConn's Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma much happier than the knowledge that his players leave better and more skilled than when they arrived.


“I think that is a big part of what we do, that is one of the things we talk a lot about with kids,” Auriemma said. “We are not going to promise that you win a national championship, we are not going to promise that you are going to be player of the year, we are not going to promise that you are going to play in the WNBA but we do tell you that you are going to get a lot better.
 
“If you come here you are going to get a lot better and whatever your goals are you are going to have a chance to reach them. When you get some of the best high school players in the country to come to your school, you would hope that a bunch of them get drafted in the first round otherwise you are not doing your job.”
UConn did not have a first-round pick in the first four WNBA drafts but have had a record 12 No. 1 picks over the last 11 drafts including No. 1 overall picks Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Charles and Moore.
Hayes is expected to be taken in the second half of the first round. However, as the drafting of Ketia Swanier with the 12th overall pick in 2008 proved, it is not out of the question for a former UConn player to go higher than anticipated.
“The top teams have the best players,” Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “It is not an accident that they (UConn) have a player, Tennessee has two or three players, Stanford has a player in this year's draft (expected to be taken in the first round). The best players right now for the most part are going to the best teams. You know with a UConn kid or other players from top programs that they are been well coached and there is an expectation of being good every day. You are not allowed to have slippage days, I think that is one of the attractive parts is that these kids have learned to compete on a daily basis and I think that helps them be prepared for our league.”
Brian Agler led Seattle to the 2010 WNBA title with the aid of former Huskies Sue Bird and Swin Cash so he knows a thing or two about the aura that former UConn players bring to the pro game.
“The one thing I always say about players from Connecticut and players from Tennessee and rich in tradition type programs is that they have always hold their college coaching staffs in high regard,” Agler said. “They continue to be a big part of their lives even after they get to the pro level. I think that is important in our evaluation because they are very team orientated. Tiffany definitely is that, she has had a great career there and I see her going in the first round, she has some versatility and some length but definitely her pedigree going through that program for four years playing on the great teams she has will help her. Each team in our league has high expectations and that is where she comes from.”

The draft begins shortly after 2 p.m. on Monday. The first round will be televised live on ESPN2 with the second and third rounds being shown on ESPNU.

The U.S. Olympic team will be announced at a press conference in Denver in about 5 hours so I thought this would be a perfect time for me to throw out there who I would pick if I were on the committee (and the U.S. team's championship hopes increase dramatically because I am not).

I will start with who I see as the core players.

Seimone Augustus
Sue Bird
Tamika Catchings
Tina Charles
Sylvia Fowles
Angel McCoughtry
Maya Moore
Candace Parker
Diana Taurasi

That leaves three spots. I would think Baylor's Brittney Griner gets one of them as her shot-blocking ability and size could be of great help against the huge frontlines of some of the other gold-medal contenders. That leaves two spots remaining.

In my eyes one will go to a combination forward. I would say that the top candidates would be Candice Dupree and former UConn stars Swin Cash and Asjha Jones. I don't think there is a wrong choice here. Jones is one of the most versatile players around and as good of a teammate as there is while Cash is a former gold medal winner and was the United States' second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in the most recent slate of exhibition games played by the squad. However I'm going with Dupree. She started five of the nine games during the World Championships, led by team in rebounding (pulling down six per game in just 16.6 minutes), was the fourth leading scorer (9.2 a game) and had a 10/3 assist/turnover ratio.

That leaves one spot that should be given to a point guard or at least somebody with the skill set to run the point during the Olympics. The wild card is Cappie Pondexter. There's no question that she is one of the most talented players around but she was a no show at one training camp and did not wow U.S. coach Geno Auriemma when she was at training camp. I'd be surprised to see her make the ream. If I had to pick I'd go with Lindsay Whalen over Kara Lawson and Renee Montgomery. Whalen is a pro's pro and was rock solid in the World Championships. So there's the team I would select

Seimone Augustus
Sue Bird
Tamika Catchings
Tina Charles
Candice Dupree
Sylvia Fowles
Brittney Griner
Angel McCoughtry
Maya Moore
Candace Parker
Diana Taurasi
Lindsay Whalen

When Tiffany Hayes was credited with an assist on Stefanie Dolson’s jumper with 1:11 left in the first half of Saturday’s NCAA tournament opener, the UConn senior moved into some pretty select company.

The assist was the 474th of her career, moving her by Svetlana Abrosimova for 10th on UConn’s career list it also enabled her to join Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Renee Montgomery as the only Huskies in the top 10 in games played, points, assists and 3-pointers made.

“I got to play with (Moore and Montgomery) and they were great players so I am blessed to play with (them),” Hayes said. “You have to take pride in it.”

Hayes heads into tonight’s game against Kansas State tied for fourth with 150 games played, is eighth with 183 3-pointers and 10th with 1,748 points and 474 assists. She is also 12th with 210 steals. Add in being a member of two national championship teams and it has been quite the journey for Hayes, who will play in Connecticut for the final time as a collegiate player today.

“Hopefully it is a good one and just make it a good (final game),” Hayes said. “It has been a great ride, it has been a good four years so far and hopefully we can finish it out on a good note.”
STATUS QUO FITS THE WILDCATS
Before each game veteran Kansas State coach Deb Patterson hasn’t needed to put a heck of a lot into which players would be starting for the Wildcats.
In each of the 33 games this season seniors Tasha Dickey, Jalana Childs and Branshea Brown and juniors Brittany Chambers and Mariah White have been in the starting lineup. The only other Division I teams which can boast of having the same starting five in every game this season are Brigham Young, Brown, Nebraska and Oregon State.
“We are best friends and we hang out all the time,” Chambers said. “Yesterday after the game we had seven people in the same room watching TV we are all really good friends and enjoy being together.”
Of course UConn is no stranger is the department of consistent starting fives. Had junior guard Caroline Doty not missed the Syracuse game with a bruised knee, the Huskies would have had the same starting lineup in every game this season. Still, with the exception of Dickey, a transfer from Arizona, the other starters have been together for at least the last three years. UConn starts two sophomores and its top scorer in freshman reserve Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.