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.

Things have happened so fast that Saniya Chong lost track of the days but she will never forget that moment earlier this week when Dallas Wings coach Fred Williams told the former UConn guard that she was part of the 2017 Dallas team.

"We were all waiting in line, I went in," Chong said of Wednesday's meeting. "It started off as a casual conversation about things and they had told me that I had made the team. I was pretty nervous, I thought that overall I was doing the best that I can but at the same time, it could go both ways."

Veteran guard Erin Phillips was probably the most surprising of the players cut from Dallas resulting in all five of the 2017 WNBA Draft selections making the Wings roster.

"It did surprise me because the vets have been here, they know what they are doing and we have a lot of new people this year but there are only 12 people on the team so somebody had to get cut," Chong said. "It is really surprising but at the end, there are limited spots."

There are some numbers affiliated with the UConn women's basketball program that simply boggle the mind. Here is another one - Chong is the 33rd UConn player taken in the WNBA Draft and when she makes her debut with the Wings, 32 of those 33 draftees will have played at least one regular-season game in the WNBA. The lone exception happens to be Chong's former position coach at UConn, Shea Ralph who was a third round pick by Utah in 2001 but that is more of a case of multiple knee operations preventing Ralph from pursuing a career in professional basketball.

Chong was home in Ossining, N.Y. watching the draft when she saw her name pop up on the screen as Dallas took her with the 26th overall pick.

"I got some calls from the (Wings) president, the coach," Chong said. "I was really nervous as they kept going down and eventually my name appeared on the screen so I was really happy so I got the chance to prove to everybody that I beloged here.

Chong grew up about 30-40 miles from Madison Square Garden but she won't admit to being a regular at New York Liberty games over the years.

"I didn't go consistently," Chong said. "It was definitely a dream growing up, watching the girls and just thinking about it so it is a huge opportunity that I get a chance to do it."

One thing that happened during training camp that I wanted to ask Chong about was the decision to miss her team's second and final preseason game so she took take part in graduation ceremonies at UConn. Some might think she was given assurances that her spot on the roster was secure if she went to graduation but that is not the case.

"I talked to the coaches, they knew that graduation is a huge accomplishment and it wouldn't affect any decisions on me making it or not making it," Chong said. "I had discussed with them a few times about it and I knew I have  to give my all in my first week of practice before I went to graduation."

Chong will wear the familiar No. 12 that she donned at UConn as she was a member of three national championship teams and also at Ossining High School as she had 2,988 points in her four years of high school while averaging 30.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 5.1 steals per game. She had 52 games with at 30 points, 20 with at least 40 points and her four 50-point outbursts included 61 as a sophomore against John Jay.

"I've had it since fifth grade maybe even sooner, kind of a number that I got and I just stuck with it," Chong said.

While the Wings roster features the five rookies, former Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins-Smith is there to help Chong make the adjustment to the pro game.

"I am always asking her questions, she has been a huge supporter and is really helping me out," Chong said.

Connecticut fans will need to wait until August 12 to see Chong in person unless they want to make the trip to New York for a June 2 Liberty-Wings game. The first five games will be played in either Texas or Arizona beginning with Sunday's season opener at Phoenix.

"I'm definitely going to be nervous but way more excited to get going," Chong said.

When her senior season began, it wasn't even certain if Saniya Chong would have a regular role at UConn but suddenly it is looking like she has made the opening day roster of the WNBA's Dallas Wings. The team currently has 12 players on the roster which is the WNBA maximum. Barring any waiver-wire additions between now and Friday, Chong will be on the opening night roster.

The Wings have announced over the last couple of days that Erin Phillips and Tiffany Bias, guards combined for 179 points and 44 assists for Dallas a season ago, have been cut. The WNBA held its annual preseason conference call and with Dallas' Fred Williams one of the three coaches on the call, I asked him for his thoughts on Chong.

"You come out of a structure, a DNA of a championship organization at UConn and when you have that kind of player, she understands winning," Williams said. "She understands her role as a point guard who can distribute the basketball and set up her team. She has demonstrated in practice and also in games that she played in preseason to show great leadership. I look to utilize her a great deal this season and rely on her great basketball IQ."

The Final Four was in Dallas and Williams was seen at occasional UConn games over the last few seasons so I asked him when Chong was on his scouting radar.

"Ever since she was a freshman," Williams said. "We started way back when and followed her with the possibility to being there at a certain spot in the draft. I thought she has grown through the years and especially during the UConn streak, she got more minutes when the other point guard went into the pros."

Perhaps nobody can appreciate what Chong has done in the last seven months more than her former teammate and roommate Breanna Stewart. She was also on the call so of course I had her weigh in on the possibility of Chong making the cut with the Wings.

"She is my best friend and being with her for the past three years at Connecticut and rooming with her for two of those years, just to see the jump that she made in her senior year and took on a leadership role that nobody really knew if it was there or not but she took it and put herself in a great position in Dallas," Stewart said. "Hopefully she can just keep building opportunities for herself and taking advantage of them." 

In other WNBA news, the Connecticut Sun announced that it has claimed Jordan Hooper off waivers. What's interesting about this move is that the Dallas franchise (then in Tulsa) drafted Hooper in the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft. That pick was acquired by trading Kayla Pedersen to Connecticut. Pedersen sat out last season but was signed by Connecticut in the offseason. With her overseas commitment dragging on and the Sun apparently liking their options at forward, she was cut without ever reporting to training camp. Now a roster spot is open and taken by the player she was traded for three years ago.

 I'm a little surprised that the Sun did not place a claim on former Temple guard Feyonda Fitzgerald but I guess they feel like either Kelly Faris or Jessica January will serve the role the guard at the end of the bench better than Fitzgerald.

There are some prominent names on the WNBA waiver wire today including the Sun waiving former All-Star guard Allison Hightower, Fitzgerald getting cut by Indiana as did former Penn State star Maggie Lucas.

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield set to make another start in place of Saniya Chong

There was no sign of senior guard Saniya Chong at the portion of today's practice open to the media so it wasn't too hard to figure out her status for tomorrow night's game against Ohio State.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed that Chong won't play tomorrow and her status is up in the air for Wednesday's game at Nebraska.

"She is doing some of the stuff you have to do, it is just taking a really long time," Auriemma said. "She is not going to be ready for tomorrow night obviously and probably not Wednesday either so perhaps the time we get back from the holidays, hopefully she will be ready to go."

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield should make her second consecutive game as Chong is slated to miss another game due to concussion-like symptoms after she was hit in the head in the second half on a Dec. 7 win at Notre Dame.

That leaves UConn with an even thinner bench than normal. Neither Molly Bent nor Kyla Irwin played against Notre Dame and got in for just the final 1:29 against Kansas State so it will be interesting to see how early they are called upon against a deep Ohio State team.

"It is a big problem and you saw some of the problems when we played K-State, we just don't have a lot to go to but we are going to have to figure it out," Auriemma said. "We had a conversation with some of those young guys that we have to figure out a way to get you involved. I think they want to be involved but if you watch them every day you just kind of shake your head so you might have to just close your eyes, throw them out there and see what happens."

The timing couldn't be worse for Chong to be injured. Unlike Kansas State, a team which preferred to run the clock down and didn't put very much pressure on the UConn guards, Ohio State likes to extend defensive pressure and figures to do even more of that with the Huskies being shorthanded.

"If you remember last year Pheesa and Lou didn't get a lot of playing time at Ohio State, they weren't quite ready for something like that," Auriemma said. "Now they aren't that much different than they were last year to be honest with you, they've added some pretty good pieces with  Sierra Calhoun, Tory McCoy and (Stephanie) Mavunga an they have gotten a lot, they have (Linnae) Harper playing so they have a lot of bodies that they can put out there, obvoiusly they want to go up and down and want to create as much of a high scoring game as they can. Controlling the tempo is going to be really important. Not that we want to walk it up and play 50-45 game but our starters are going to log a lot of minutes tomorrow but we are going to need some help from our bench and that is a big concern."

This is certainly not what Saniya Chong had in mind for the early portion of her junior season.

Chong worked hard not only on her game but also in being a more vocal presence and well-rounded player. What she wasn't counting on was the IT Band Syndrome causing such discomfort in her knee that she would miss three games and play a total of 28 minutes in UConn's first six games in the month of December.

Chong finally got to make an impact with a huge 3-pointer late in a win over Maryland before going off for 13 points in 22 minutes in a win over Cincinnati. Then with Moriah Jefferson missing her first career game due to a hamstring injury, Chong played 29 minutes in her first start of the season in a 95-35 win over Tulsa.

"It was a big step," Chong said. "Because of my injury it was a little shaky here and there in the beginning. Me and Rosie (UConn athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle) have been working together really hard and we have been improving each and every day, just coming out here today and playing really hard.

"One day it can be totally fine, I can practice and the next day I probably can't do a warmup and probably can't even walk so it has been really frustrating. I have tried to keep positive, Rosie has been positive with me and working me. My teammates have been supporting me so as time as been going on."

Some of Chong's best basketball came in the third quarter as she had eight points and had a solid effort in more ways than just knocking down shots.

"I felt really excited knowing I had to step in and take Mo's place," Chong said. "She does everything on the court, her offense and her defense. I couldn't be her but I had to go out there, give it my all and contribute to the team.

"I had support from Mo talking to me. The defense was a little bit shaky in the first half so coming out in the second half Mo was talking to me and I did what I had to do."
Chong's uncertain status probably would have kept her from being a productive player in her first couple of seasons but UConn coach Geno Auriemma credits Chong's maturity for helping her get through what has been an emotionally trying first couple of months of her junior season.

"People would (ask) what is the biggest improvement Saniya has made since freshman year to today, I would almost say it is not even about basketball but she has grown up a lot and that is what is helping her become the type of player we saw in high school," Auriemma said.

"I am happy for her. It is not easy to come out and play when you haven't practiced a lot this year and you haven't played in a lot of game minutes so I am thrilled for her."

There were so many key contributors in the win over Tulsa. Morgan Tuck had 16 of her 18 points in the first half while freshmen Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier scored in double figures in the same game for just the second time this season. Samuelson had 14 points, four rebounds and five assists while Collier had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Collier now has 82 rebounds which is the most for a UConn freshman through 12 games since Tina Charles' 97 in the 2006-07 season.

Jefferson injured her hamstring in practice on Friday. She took part in most of the pregame drills but missed her first career game and saw her string of consecutive starts snapped at 90. Auriemma sounded optimistic that she could be back in the lineup when UConn plays at Houston on Friday.
"I am pretty positive that she is going to go on Friday unless I see something different (in Thursday's practice or Friday's shootaround)," Auriemma said.

Also, sophomore center Natalie Butler said her scheduled meeting with the UConn medical staff to check on her injured thumb went well. She will continue to wear a splint to protect the thumb she injured in the preseason.

Today was the first practice open to the media since UConn's season-opening win over Ohio State and both Saniya Chong and De'Janae Boykin were out there during drills.

Chong, who did get into the season opener during the final few minutes, is expected to be a full go for tomorrow's game against Kansas State (7 p.m., XL Center) although UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that because Boykin is still only practicing on a part-time basis as she works her way back from an Achilles' tendon injury, he doesn't not expect her to play in the home opener.

Chong is excited to hit the ground running in her first extended game action after missing both exhibition games and not getting into the Ohio State game until there was 3:21 remaining.

"I feel very excited. I know it has been hard the last couple of weeks for me, in and out all the time but actually being here and finishing up the practices, being a part of the team it feels really good," Chong said.

With sophomore Gabby Williams looking very much like the Huskies' fifth starter, UConn is extremely young on the bench as the only reserves to play more than 10 minutes against the Buckeyes were freshmen Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. Without Chong, the other reserves have played a total of 704 career minutes so there's a lot on Chong's shoulders.

"We talked to Saniya and said 'you are a leader on this team too,'" UConn senior Breanna Stewart said. "She is a junior, this is her third year of being here and she needs to help us lead the underclassmen. Saying that, just for her to hear in front of the rest of the team, helps her out
She has to be more vocal because if the freshmen see a junior not talking, they think it is OK to not talk too."

Chong has been dealing with IT Band Syndrome which results in pain on the outside of the knee. She had an injection and there's a chance that she will need more of them during the season.

"I think it will be ongoing this season, hopefully one day it will be like 'I want to go now' and hopefully soon," Chong said.

Boykin figures to make her UConn debut sooner rather than later. After missing most of her senior season at Flowers High School due to a wrist injury, it's been hard for Boykin to deal with being sidelined due to another ailment.

"It is kind of like being back in high school when I had to sit and watch so it is pretty hard for me," Boykin said. "I am excited that I am able to (practice) now.I feel comfortable, everything is fine."

Auriemma said that sophomore center Natalie Butler, expected to be out for at least another month due to a thumb injury, did some drills in practice earlier this week. Auriemma can't wait to get the 6-foot-5 Butler back to practice without restriction.

DANGERFIELD NAMED TO NAISMITH PLAYER OF YEAR WATCH LIST
UConn signee Crystal Dangerfield, a senior guard at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., was one of 77 players named to the Naismith Player of the Year watch list.

Dangerfield had 34 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in a season-opening 69-55 win over Brentwood Academy.

Dan Ricci, who coached UConn sophomore guard Saniya Chong at Ossining High School, has been a regular visitor to the Huskies' home games over the last couple of years.

Ricci is expected to be in attendance at today's regional semifinal at the Times Union Center but he will not be alone. With the Ossining team playing Long Island Lutheran in the Federation Tournament of Champions semifinals in Albany last night, the plan is to have the entire team including plenty of former teammates as the top five scorers on this year's team (Jalay Knowles, Shadeen Samuels, Stefanie Svoboda, Abby Squirrell and Madison Strippoli) played on the 2012-13 Ossining team that Chong led to first of three AA state titles.

"They are coming to the game so he said he bought a pretty good amount of tickets so the players are going to be coming to watch," Chong said. "That is pretty cool, even with our distance we still find each other and I think it is pretty amazing."

There are those who figured Ossining would not reach the level of success it did during Chong's time there. However, they won state titles both in 2014 and 2015.

"It shows me how much the program has been amazing, that senior year and ever since then," Chong said.

"He helped me so much. I think my game has definitely improved. He has taught me things on and off the court."

With freshman Gabby Williams being converted into a forward, there aren't too many guard options off the bench for the Huskies. Chong has had a quietly effective sophomore season averaging 6 points per game and adding an impressive 73/41 assist to turnover ratio. However, those numbers don't indicate where she has made the largest strides and that is on the defensive end of the floor.

"I think that since the beginning of the (season), that was a huge issue," Chong said. "We all talk about the Stanford game and how my offense was good but at the end of the day my defense wasn't so great. It was pretty upsetting and I know ever since then I have been working really hard and I have grown since then. Obviously I have a ways to go but ever since then, it has been something I really want to improve in.

"A lot of times it is not about the points but it is about what else you can do to impact the game. I think my defense will impact the game. I don't want the other team to thinking give the girl I am guarding the ball and just score all the time. I want to help contribute to my team."

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson combined for 42 points
as UConn pulled away for 91-55 victory over Rutgers on Monday night

Often times it looks all so routine.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis starts hitting 3-pointers from seemingly everywhere, Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart take turns setting up the other for layups while Moriah Jefferson and Kia Nurse attack the basket with controlled abandon.

However, Stewart was on the bench with two fouls, neither Mosqueda-Lewis nor Nurse were involved in the offense as the Huskies found themselves with few answers and a precarious five-point lead as the NCAA second-round game approached the midway point of the first half.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer is a Hall of Famer in large part due to being one of the top defensive minds in the history of women's college basketball and she was not about to make things easy for the Huskies.

For one of the few times this season, the Huskies seemed to be a bit rattled. Ill advised passes resulted in turnovers, poor shot selection contributed to some empty possessions. There wasn't much help coming from the bench either so for stretches it basically was Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck playing 2 on 5 on the offensive end of the court.

What followed next was seeing players contribute in different ways.

It started with freshman Gabby Williams, a 44 percent free-throw shooter, going 3 of 4 from the foul line. Then Mosqueda-Lewis, who had fallen into her old habit of standing in one spot waiting to fire up a 3-pointer, began to move with purpose. She hit a jumper in the lane, added a rebound, assist and steal before capping an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer. Kiah Stokes ripped down offensive rebounds with authority and before long, the Huskies were well on their way to another convincing win.

"You never know when somebody is going to go down, either get hurt or get into foul trouble so you have to be ready to step up at any time," said UConn junior guard Moriah Jefferson, who had 19 points including the 1,000th of her career. "We needed (somebody) whether it was me or K (Mosqueda-Lewis) to step up and make the shots to get us into a rhythm and onto a
roll.
"I think games like this are really fun. When Stewie went out, I think a lot of people stepped up and that isn't even saying anything about Gabby, she was killing it. I am just excited for my team."
Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds as she became the ninth UConn freshman to score in double figures in both the first and second round games. Stokes contributed more to the winning effort than her final line of four points, eight rebounds and two blocks would seem to indicate. Saniya Chong's stat line of two points, four rebounds and one turnover is not an indication of the impact she had. There was one flurry when Chong made the perfect defensive read to prevent a transition layup by Rutgers. Then UConn came down the court and Chong alertly vacated the area near Mosqueda-Lewis leading to one of her five 3-pointers.

"You have to be ready when you name is called," Stokes said. "You don't know when people are going to get into foul trouble like Stewie did. It is not a thing of hang your head because you're not starting or you are not the first one off the bench. When your name is called you have to be ready. I have taken that to heart. I have come in during certain games throughout my whole career and given the spark we needed. I know when my name is called I need to come in, block shots and
get rebounds. As long as I am doing that, I know I am doing my role."

It is hardly a trade secret to reveal that the UConn women's basketball team is at its best when it is out in transition.

Whether it is Moriah Jefferson's aggressive drives to the basket or Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis spotting up for a 3-pointer, the Huskies thrive when racing up the court after a turnover or missed shot.

In Monday's win over Tulane no two players were any better executing in the transition game than Moriah Jefferson and Saniya Chong.

Jefferson finished with a season-high eight steals (one shy of her career best) while Chong not only dished out a career-high eight assists but she did so without committing a turnover.

"That is part of their offense, they really want to drive it and kick it out," Jefferson said. "(Assistant coach) Shea (Ralph) told me about it, she had a good scout so I went down there and tried to get some steals."

Six of Jefferson's 11 first-half points came off her own steals and two others resulted after a steal and dish by Morgan Tuck. Jefferson finished with 15 points as she scored in double figures for the sixth game in a row which matched the longest stretch of her career.
"The thing that I like about Moriah right now is she is playing with a lot of confidence, she is making things happen at both ends of the floor," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I thought there were a couple of lapses there late but she has control of the team right now, she has our offense under control. She knows exactly who's where and when and what we need to do."

Chong came into the game with no more than four assists in a game this season and had committed multiple turnovers in each of the last three games. Ten times this season Chong had a turnover-free game but she had just 14 assists in those games. In the second half Chong had seven assists as she played a team-high 19 minutes after halftime.

"She was really crafty with the ball even when she wasn't getting the assists, she was getting it into the lane and getting a nice layup," Jefferson said. "I think she is coming along well and giving us some good minutes."

Auriemma is just happy to see that Chong continues to make positive contributions even when her outside shot isn't there which was the case last night.
"Saniya, I don't know how she does it but in the two years that she has been here she has a way of getting the ball on the rim in traffic," Auriemma said. "Sometimes I would rather Saniya take a contested layup than a wide open jump shot. She has a better chance of making a contested layup but I want her to be consistent, I want her to contribute every day. I think Gabby (Williams) did the same thing. The first possession that she was in the game she made a play and that is what you want. We tried to play our starters extended minutes in a row  so it is not four minutes in, four minutes out. I want them to play a lot of minutes so they get used to playing without a lot of rest and there weren't any fouls called for maybe the first 10 minutes (the first foul was called with 11:34 left in the first half). They had a chance to play without a lot of stoppage."

SENIOR DAY CLINCH
There will be plenty of hugs exchanged when seniors Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kiah Stokes are honored on Saturday as they play their final regular-season home game. The game against Memphis will feature another kind of a clinch, however.

Barring a stunning upset by Cincinnati when the Bearcats play South Florida later on today, UConn will have a chance to secure its second straight outright American Athletic Conference regular-season title with a win over Memphis. It figures to add to an already special day at Gampel Pavilion.

"All senior nights are good, they are all important and it is always a special night at Connecticut," Auriemma said. "By the time you get to be a senior in our program, you probably have been through a lot of great things. You experienced things that a lot of college players never had a chance to experience. Obviously the difference is that it is not the last game to be played but in one sense it is a way to celebrate. That building has been their home for the last four games, they have won a lot of games there, they have celebrated a lot of great moments there. I hope Saturday is everything that it should be for those two and their parents."

Some of the UConn women's basketball team's recent games, especially the ones played in the state of Connecticut, have not exactly been of the nail-biting variety.

In the seven games played at Gampel Pavilion, the XL Center, Mohegan Sun Arena or Webster Bank Arena, UConn's average margin of victory has been a shade under 38 points per game.

However, it would not unfair to say the Huskies have not been tested since the November 17 loss to Stanford. Whenever the team met for practice, UConn coach Geno Auriemma and his staff has attempted to put them in positions where failure is an option. In recent weeks that has been easier said than done since most of the male practice players live too far away during the break between the fall and spring semesters. However, with the classes in the spring semester starting on Tuesday, the male practice players were back and put to good use.

There was one spirited portion of practice when the game was tied at 49 and UConn had the final possession. Moriah Jefferson had the ball and was about to run a play - presumably for Breanna Stewart - when practice player Collins Nwafor reached in, poked the ball away from Jefferson and raced down the other end of the court for the go-ahead layup with about 2 seconds left. Kia Nurse's desperation heave from about 30-35 feet actually caught iron before bouncing away harmlessly.

"Coming out and playing against these guys, they are bigger than us, faster than us and it makes you have to play smart basketball," Jefferson said. "As you saw, any mistake you make they are going to steal it and it is going to be a turnover.

"I had a play in my head and it didn't work out so I try to run another play, he came out and stripped the ball right out of my hands. It hurt but you have to keep moving on."

In the next period, the final one in the practice, the UConn team fought back the best way they know how but making shots. It ended with Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis draining a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer.

"I think we do need those situations," Stewart said. "Those practice players they are the best people we are going to see all season and they make it really competitive for us. You want to play those kinds of games, those are the types of things you want to do in practice. You want to win so when you lose, you want to keep playing. We won that last (period) but we were down by so much that we couldn't come back. A competitive game in practice, it kind of keeps your head level."

Assistant coach Shea Ralph, who spent a good part of practice coaching up the practice players, knows that the lessons learned from a spirited practice like the one on Friday could be invaluable for the team at some point this season.
"I know our staff feels like it is our job to prepare them for what they are going to see not only on a day to day basis but in our conference," Ralph said. "We need to win every game in our conference and that is important to us. We also understand we are going to face some teams that are going to challenge us so it is our job to make sure they are prepared for that."

When the media was able to check out practice UConn had its three freshmen (Kia Nurse, Courtney Ekmark and Gabby Williams) playing alongside sophomore Saniya Chong and Stewart. There were some rough patches as some of the team's most experienced players were on the sidelines and that is the point. UConn coach Geno Auriemma is known for putting his players in the most difficult scenarios during practice and the more lopsided the final margins are in actual games, the more challenging he tries to make practice. That was most certainly the case on Friday.
"They want to compete, they want to challenge themselves so we want to do that as much as we can, we try to put them out there and when they are playing our practice players they can do everything exactly right and still get their butts beat and I think that is good for them," Auriemma said. "It forces them to do things that ordinarily they wouldn't have to do.

"The practice level is obviously much different (with the practice players), we play more 5 on 5 when they get here, more core stuff when they get here and I look forward to this time of the year when the practice players are back," Auriemma said.

One of the highlights of UConn's early season practices is seeing how the freshmen get acclimated.

It wasn't that big of a deal last year with Saniya Chong the only new scholarship player but yesterday was the introduction of freshmen Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams as well as transfer Natalie Butler.

I consider this group to be one of the more intriguing collection of newcomers since I have been covering the team.

You have Edwards, the Meriden native who spent a season playing in New York and two more at Blair Academy in New Jersey. Butler is a rebounding machine and a rare transfer into the program. Ekmark made the unusual decision to bypass her senior season of high school and had a variety of different basketball experiences over the last year. Nurse's experience with the Canadian national team has been well documented and then there is Williams, a top five finisher in the high jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials who saw her final two high school seasons end prematurely due to torn ACLs.

All five were out there early and often during the portion of practice the media was allowed to watch. There were nervous moments as they attempted to learn the different drills, absorb the coaching from Geno Auriemma and his staff as well as the encouragement they were getting from their more experienced teammates.

"It was tough in the beginning but we kind of caught on," Nurse said. "It was something we were excited to be a part of."

Ekmark echoed her classmate and roommate's take on her first official practice as a Husky.

"It is awesome," Ekmark said. "Obviously we are fired up and excited for our first college practice, it was good, it was fun. It was a different level of intensity for all of us because it is a different jump from high school to college.

"Moriah (Jefferson) and Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) are really helpful. I know to me I can talk to them if I ever need help with anything and I can ask them  so it is really nice to have them here and it is fun playing with them also."

Nurse is grateful to have leaders like Jefferson and Mosqueda-Lewis to help show her the way.

"They are great leaders," Nurse said, "They give us everything we need to know and we are never surprised with anything thanks to them. They are great basketball players, have great basketball IQs and we just learn from them every day."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said one of the points of emphasis with the newcomers is to have them make shots. With a grueling preseason conditioning program and the way the challenging practices take a toll on them, they are going to have to learn how to fight through the fatigue.

"Everything is new right now so we are learning a lot of new stuff," Ekmark said. "We are trying to keep our legs on our shots but you have to keep shooting."

Nurse just recently got back to campus after spending most of the summer with the Canadian national team. It was time well spent as Nurse was a starting guard on a team which finished fifth in the FIBA World Championship for Women.

"I feel great," Nurse said, "I got a couple days off when I came back. Your body can only take so much and my body got used to playing for a long time all the time so I am lucky to have the staff here that help you rehab everything."

One of the biggest concerns was going to be if Nurse fell too far behind academically due to all the class time she missed while she was overseas. Turns out there was no cause for concern.

"I caught up," Nurse said, "The teachers have been really great and my room was spotless due to Courtney, she kept it clean. Everybody has been really great, the academics center, everybody has worked really hard and I am really grateful for them."

It's looking like the rosters for tomorrow night's scrimmage will not be announced until tomorrow morning so stay tuned. By the sounds of it, UConn is putting together quite the program to pay homage to its championship pedigree. More details will be coming out in the next 18 hours although Wener Ladder announced it will be presenting the ladders the men's and women's teams used to cut down the nets after winning the national titles in April.

Back on Nov. 11 it was all so simple for Saniya Chong.

The only scholarship freshman on the undefeated UConn squad, was summoned off the bench with UConn trailing Stanford by a point in an offensively-challenged opening several minutes.

Starting point guard Moriah Jefferson didn't respond well when the Stanford defenders were practically begging her to attempt shots from perimeter so she got an early seat on the bench. After missing her only shot and committing a turnover in a span of 2:46, Brianna Banks also returned to the bench and it was time to see what Chong could do. Just 65 seconds after coming in, Chong drained a 3-pointer and added an assist while playing nearly three minutes.

By game's end she had six points (on a pair of 3-pointers), three assists, two steals and no turnovers in 17 minutes. Two games later she would record the first of five double-digit scoring games.

Everything seemed to be clicking for Chong who played at least 15 minutes of 23 of the first 28 games of the season and even starting four games in a row while Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was out with mononucleosis. However, since Mosqueda-Lewis has returned, minutes have been hard to come by for Chong.

Chong has five field goals in the last nine games she has played in with three of them coming in the NCAA tournament opener against Prairie View A&M. She played one minute in each of the last two games and it was simply so UConn could run the clock out. The low point had to be late in the first half of the BYU game when Bria Hartley was brought back into the game with 1:54 left in the first half even though she had two fouls. It was a signal that Auriemma didn't trust either Chong or Brianna Banks to even play a minute during a key stretch against a team seeded 12th in the Lincoln Region.

Before heading to Nashville Auriemma met with the media and I asked him if he would be able to trust one of his reserve guards if the Huskies were in a similar situation at the Final Four.

"I think the biggest part of what we are going to do is to find out who we can trust. I asked them today (Thursday) 'why is it that we could trust you guys in November and December and don't have that same level of trust today?' A lot of that has to do with their approach to the game. They decided in November and December that mentally they were going to be involved with what is going on and somewhere along the line that went away. Can it come back? You never know what happens in the Final Four."

Chong, who is averaging 4.9 points per game with an impressive 60/27 assist to turnover ratio, is hoping that she gets a chance to play quality minutes against Stanford tonight.

"Definitely I am trying to go out there and give it my all and I am hoping coming off the bench that it is a positive thing," Chong said. "I hope that it not because they were doing bad, I hope I get a chance just to show what I can do.

"It is hard to deal with, it is hard to think about but once I get my chance I have to give it my all."

LIVE BLOG RUNNING TONIGHT
There will be a live blog up and running during tonight's national semifinals.

Things are back to normal with the UConn women’s basketball team.
The Huskies will hit the practice court tomorrow to put the final touches on preparations for their first game in next two weeks.

Since UConn vanquished Louisville for the third time this season, the amount of basketball-related activities has been intentionally sporadic. UConn coach Geno Auriemma have his team plenty of time off.  That was the smart choice as Moriah Jefferson said her tender foot is feeling much better as if Brianna Banks’ ankle. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis has also been able to get stronger after a bout with the energy-sapping mononucleosis. Stefanie Dolson was dealing with a head cold but said she is feeling much better as well.

When the team hit the practice court, Auriemma has liked what he has seen.

“It's been OK,” Auriemma said. “We gave them a bunch of time off. We can't be out there real long, we can't be out there every day. Stefanie (Dolson) has been bothered by a cold but other than that, there is not much else that you can do. All you can do, you are just waiting around. It is just an abnormal amount of time to be off so I think everybody will be happy because at least we will have some focus on what we need to do, what we are doing and where we are going, who are we playing.”

After winning the American Athletic Conference tournament, Auriemma said he was hoping to get reserve guards Banks and Saniya Chong going after they have struggled to contribute in recent games.
“They have both made some progress since last Monday and I hope it carries over,” Auriemma said. “Having said that, they have practiced pretty well for a while now but they don't function well in games for large stretches.”

Both Banks and Chong believe they are in a better frame of mind heading into the NCAA tournament than they were going into the conference tournament.

“Me and Saniya feel like we have been practicing pretty hard and getting our stuff together,” Banks said. “Our team needs our help and I think it's been going pretty well.”

Auriemma pointed out to Chong that she had more fouls (five) than points (four) in the AAC tournament and the talented freshman is eager to make a bigger impact beginning on Sunday when UConn plays Prairie View A&M in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I just have to work hard. In the last tournament I haven’t been doing anything,” Chong said. “Coming out here and practicing, I have been working extra hard so I can at least be a part of a team. I just have to come in and do something like Mo (Jefferson) and all of them are doing and play the same game and be a part of it.”

One benefit of the time off is that it gave Chong and Breanna Stewart to head back to New York to watch their former high school teams play in the state tournament. As luck would have it, Chong’s alma mater (Ossining) faced the Cicero-North Syracuse program where Stewart earned national player of the year recognition so Chong, Stewart and Morgan Tuck made the ride to watch Ossining emerge victorious.

“We weren't able to see our teams play for a year so for us to be there and watching for the states and seeing how much my team has improved from last year and especially the younger girls did amazing,” Chong said.

So what was she most impressed with?

“I would say how much they improved and being there, Jalay (Knowles) getting twice as many rebounds, Shadeen (Samuels) making so many 3s in transition, Stefanie (Svoboda) coming up from JV and being the point guard was amazing.

Chong did not engage in any trash talking to Stewart after her team got the win and although disappointed, Stewart took the loss in stride.

“They were a good team and fought really hard but Ossining played really well,” Stewart said. “I wasn't losing my mind; you wish you could see them doing better. There were times when they were struggling,
“I think everybody appreciated it. There were a few people who were on the team who I played with when I was there and just to see them as they have obviously gotten older, I think they appreciated me coming back because even they see what I am doing now, CNS is still where I came from.”

Another beneficial aspect of giving his team some time off is that Auriemma was able to hit the recruiting trail. By all accounts, he liked what he saw as he continues to set the table for the next couple of recruiting classes.
When he spoke at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce breakfast earlier this week that May will be a time when he will be hosting some of the top prospects in the Class of 2015. In a perfect world, UConn would love to bring in all the top players during the same weekend but it is uncertain if that is going to happen because of issues with SATs, AAU responsibilities, potential conflicts with USA Basketball and travel since most of them would need to board to plane to get to UConn.

“There are four or five kids that if we can sign or get commitments from we will probably have gotten four of the top five players in America,” Auriemma said.

Guards Asia Durr, Katie Lou Samuelson and Haley Gorecki and forwards Napheesa Collier and De’Janae Boykin are at the top of UConn’s recruiting wish list for the next recruiting class.

The more time that passes on the more it hits me how much Breanna Stewart is cut from the same cloth as the person she is most often compared to.

When Maya Moore played her final game at UConn most people are aware that she is the only player in program history to score 3,000 points. However, Moore also finished second all-time with 311 3-pointers, second with 1,276 rebounds, third with 310 steals, fourth with 204 blocked shots, sixth with 544 assists and most importantly to her, an NCAA Division I record 150 wins as  a player.

It is that all-around type of career that Stewart is in the midst of.
With 563 points she is one point shy of Svetlana Abrosimova and Diana Taurasi for the fifth best total as a sophomore as UConn, her 232 rebounds rank ninth and the 82 blocks as a sophomore is the third best total. She also has a chance to join Rebecca Lobo as the only Huskies with 100 assists and blocks in the same season.

Her consistency can be highlighted by the fact that she scored in double figures for the 20th straight time which is the longest streak for a Connecticut player since Moore’s impressive run of 53 straight double-digit scoring games.

“Not that the points aren't important but just showing that I am producing out there, helping my teammates out and just having that killer instinct that no matter who we play you want to go out and have a good scoring night, have a good rebounding night and have an overall good night,” Stewart said.

There have been people who said that Stewart would be taken with the first overall pick if she were eligible to be picked by the Connecticut Sun with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft. Still, her coach is asking more from his superstar.

“A kid like that she should be in double figures in every half, in double figures in rebounds,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She is a really good passer, she blocks shots. There aren't a whole lot of things that she can't do but like any other college player, you see stretches when you kind of shake your head and say 'what the hell is she doing?' It is not like she is the finished product, she and Bria (Hartley), I thought at the beginning of the season that Stefanie Dolson was the only one who understood exactly what we needed and how we needed it to be done and now we've got three players who understand everything we are trying to do all the time.”

PRODUCTIVE TRIP FOR ROLE PLAYERS
There’s no questioning that UConn has a dynamic starting five when Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is on the court with the Huskies but there have been questions about how much productions the Huskies would be getting from the under the radar players when the postseason rolls around.

Saniya Chong wasn’t at her best in the wins over Houston and SMU but she still averaged 6 points and 4.5 assists per game and Kiah Stokes averaged 5.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per contest.
Brianna Banks had a bigger impact in the SMU game than her final stat line of six points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and four turnovers would indicate.

When UConn ended the first half on a 15-0 run, Banks was in the middle of things as she proved to be a disruptive force on defense which enabled the Huskies to be out in transition.

“We are always encouraging her but Brianna Banks doesn't always do that, she plays a little cautious at times,” Auriemma said. “When you bring the quickness and the kind of speed she has up and down the floor, I wish she would take more chances because she would get involved more on the defensive end. She has been doing that and that is why she has been playing more. I think she knows that the more she does that, the more she is going to play.”

We should hear more about where Mosqueda-Lewis stands as she recovers from mononucleosis as UConn’s medical staff will take a look at her tomorrow. While it is a little ambitious to expect to see her taking part in regular practice drills at tomorrow’s practice, if she gets the thumbs’ up perhaps she can start doing some basketball-related activities this week.

With Morgan Tuck out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis currently sidelined due to a bout with mononucleosis, it's kind of surreal to be writing about UConn getting some good news in the health department but that is exactly what I am about to do.

One of the most surprising aspects of Sunday's win at South Florida was that Brianna Banks was healthy enough to play but yet she only got mop-up minutes late in the second half.

Due to the latest batch of snow to hit the area, we did a conference call rather than have media availability after watching the end of practice and UConn coach Geno Auriemma said "hopefully we will get more minutes out of her tomorrow night. It was just a decision that I made, I can't put my finger on any (reason)."

The good news is it sounds like Banks has put together back to back strong practices.

"She did a really good job of making sure she is communicating," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "A big thing when you get injured or you are out a little bit you feel like it is hard to really come back and feel like you are a part of (things) but she did a really good job today and yesterday of really talking being a part of the team out there, making good decisions on the court offensively and defensively, I saw a lot of aggressiveness that she had and I am definitely impressed with where she is."

With Banks playing just two minutes, freshman Saniya Chong played 37 minutes while making her first career start.

Nobody had to remind Chong, who averaged 34.4 points a game as a high school senior, that she has not scored since late in the first half against SMU. But the media on the call did just that, asking Chong, teammates Bria Hartley and Dolson and Auriemma about Chong's recent offensive struggles.

"It was the whole mindset and I have to make sure I come out aggressive and try to get to the basket as much as I can," Chong said. "It is all a mindset of me not trying to make mistakes. That is something I have to get out of my head, stop thinking that way, be aggressive and just give it my all."

Chong is not the first freshman to have struggles and certainly won't  be the last. The good news is that Chong's practice habits have remained rock solid all season long so it should be just a matter of time before that translates into more production during games.

"She looked real good for that whole week that we had off (between games)," Auriemma said. "She has to get over this mental block that she has developed a little bit about being tentative and little by little she is going to get over that. I know that she has confidence in herself. She knows she is a good player and I know she knows she is a good offensive player. I want her to trust her instincts and go play. We are going to try to get her back to that point sooner rather than later."

There are plenty of things that Geno Auriemma concerns himself with when it comes to the quest to make his top-ranked UConn women’s basketball team better during each practice session. The ability to make shots is not particularly high on the pecking order of things.

So even with his team in a bit of a shooting funk over the last three games, Auriemma is not about to sound the alarm bells.

“Running our stuff wasn't the issue. getting shots has not been an issue at all but that last two games I think Bria(Hartley) and Stewie (Breanna Stewart) combined have been like 14 for 50 (actually 14 for 49) so getting shots isn't a problem but right now we are not making very many,” Auriemma said after Wednesday’s win over Central Florida. “I think we missed more layups - make able, easy layups - than we have in a year it seems like. The first half we got shots all different kinds of ways, we got them in half court, we got them in transition, we pretty much got anything we wanted. We played OK, we didn't play great then in the second half and things kind of slowed down a bit.”

With Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis still working her way back into the flow of things after missing five weeks of game action and practice time due to the right elbow injury, she has not been consistently hitting from the perimeter which has resulted in less room to operate for the other players. The 3-point numbers of the last three games are exhibit No. 1.

Freshman Saniya Chong, who is 4 for 9 from 3-point range, is the only player shooting better than 40 percent on 3-pointers in the games versus California, Cincinnati and Central Florida.

Here are the 3-point numbers of UConn’s top perimeter threats
Player          Games 1-11 Games 12-14
Brianna Banks    11-25  1-4
Saniya Chong  14-39  4-9
Stefanie Dolson   5-13  0-2
Bria Hartley  17-57  2-10
Moriah Jefferson        7-24  1-8
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 10-17  3-9
Breanna Stewart  13-33  2-10
Morgan Tuck   2-5   2-8

Stewart, who is just 7 of 27 from the field in the last two games, believes along as she and her teammates are aggressive that the shots will begin to fall.

“Missing (shots) irritates me the most,” Stewart said. “I see myself making shots so it is not like I've lost everything, I am just trying to see the ball go through the basket and keep being aggressive because that is how you want to attack something when it is not going well. I feel like I have been aggressive for the most part.  I want to get more shots up in practice, see the ball go through the basket and make free throws.”

It's not always being a freshman at UConn.

Even a player as talented as Breanna Stewart had her ebbs and flows a season ago and Saniya Chong, the only scholarship freshman playing for the top-ranked Huskies is also learning how difficult it can be to produce on a nightly basis.

It was smooth sailing at the beginning of the season. In the first six games of the season Chong shot 53 percent from the field, was 10 of 23 from 3-point range and had a 12/4 assist to turnover ratio.

The next six games was a bit more challenging especially from 3-point range as she went 4 from 17 from downtown including four games with no 3-pointers.

Chong showed signs of life against Cincinnati with nine points coming on three 3-pointers and followed that up with seven points, one rebound and two steals in the final 4:46 of the first half in the win over Central Florida.

"I feel pretty good," Chong said. "Coach (Geno Auriemma) always tells us even though we are coming off the bench, we have to bring something to the team, go in there and help the team."

Chong and Morgan Tuck are the only non-scholarship players not to start a game for UConn this season. Chong is never quite sure when she is going to come into a game or how much time she is going to see in the game.

"I would say it is a challenge, it is totally different," Chong said. "Everything has been going pretty well, everybody has been playing their part and I just have to play my role and see what happens. Coming off the bench. I'm trying to bring enough energy to make sure I doing what my team needs me to do, as in anything they want me to do."

PAIR OF RECRUITING TARGETS WIN TITLES IN NAPLES
UConn Class of 2015 recruiting targets Kalani Brown and Napheesa Collier led their teams to division titles at the Naples Holiday Shootout.

Brown, a 6-foot-6 center and daughter of former 15-year NBA veteran P.J. Brown, had 22 points as Salmen (La.) High defeated Toledo's Roger High 48-36 in the National Division title game on Wednesday. Brown averaged 24 points in the three games.

In the American Division, Collier had 12 points and nine rebounds in a 53-44 win over Blackman (Tenn.) High in Wednesday's championship game. She averaged 21.3 points in the three games.

Brown and Collier were joined on the all-tournament team by fellow Class of 2015 UConn recuiting target Asia Durr, who averaged 25.3 points in the three games for her St. Pius X squad and Elizabethtown (Ky.) sophomore forward Erin Boley, a target for UConn in the Class of 2016 who averaged 18 points per game in the tournament.

UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph and associate head coach Chris Dailey were at the tournament as UConn was one of more than 50 college programs to sent coaches to scout the tournament.

Perhaps only at UConn can the majority of the questions in the post-game press conference following a 33-point win be focused on how poorly the Huskies played.

However, when the Huskies struggled to break into double digits in assists, posted their lowest scoring total of the season and had more turnovers than assists for just the second time this season, the uneven offensive performance is going to draw some attention.

UConn opened the game by hitting 7 of its first 10 shots but when Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis left the game with three fouls with 14:26 to play in the first half and Cincinnati packing the lane to prevent Breanna Stewart and Stefanie Dolson to get touches in the low post, UConn was just 5 of 23 for the remainder of the first half.

"There was no flow to the offense. We spend as much time as probably anybody does to make sure we do have that kind of flow," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "We were up 16 to start the game and then part of it was earlier this week we had really good practices and that second group really had a couple great days of practice. I thought I'd try a New Year's resolution and play those guys a lot more minutes and that is never going to happen again so that kind of got us away from what we were doing. We got stuck and stayed stuck for most of the first half.

"It is easy to get the ball to Stef at the high post but the difference is we need to balance that out by getting her the ball in the low post and we did a lousy job of that today. Breanna was OK offensively, I think she was stuck in one spot for most of the game and when K (Mosqueda-Lewis) came out the game with her third foul so now you have not such a great scenario. This having nine guys available is all great, lovey dovey and everything but it going to take a while to get used to after we played with six or seven. I have to do a better job of figuring out who should be in with who so that it doesn't end up being stand around and watch."

Moriah Jefferson and Stefanie Dolson were the only UConn players to make more shots than they missed and if you take away freshman Saniya Chong's 3 for 6 effort from 3-point range, the Huskies were 2 of 19 from 3-point range.

"It is not the first time that is happened that we spent four or five days shooting the ball a lot and don't make shots," Auriemma said. "We are not going to shoot the ball at all the next few days and we will probably go 12 for 25 from the 3-point line on Wednesday (when the Huskies play at Central Florida), that is the way it usually works.

Stewart did finish with 12 points and 12 rebounds to record her fourth straight double-double while Bria Hartley and Jefferson also finished with 12 points. But it was a bit of a struggle to get into the flow against Cincinnati and especially difficult to get out in transition.

"We were trying to make things happen that weren't there, if we came off the screen we didn't look like we were trying to be scorers first and felt a little bit stagnant out there," Mosqueda-Lewis said.

Breanna Stewart has played in so many arenas during her young life but remarkably, Madison Square Garden is not one of them. That will change this afternoon when UConn faces Cal in the World's Most Famous Arena in the second game of the Maggie Dixon Classic.

"It's my first time playing there," Stewart said. "I have been there before for one WNBA game. I am really excited. You always see in on TV, the historical basketball games that have been there. It will be a great experience but at the same time, it is a business trip."

Although she grew up in Syracuse, which is about four hours from New York City, why has Stewart been such an infrequent visitor to MSG?

"It is my dad's fault," Stewart said with a laugh. "He never took me to an NBA game or Big East tournament."

Of course for Stewart and her teammates, is there a better time to head into NYC than with Christmas just a few days away.

"You are going to New York City at Christmas time, you've got Rockefeller Center, everything is going on and you have the basketball as well," Stewart said.

The team headed to New York on Friday so there has been plenty of time to check out the sights.

"It is absolutely amazing," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "It is the best time to be in New York City when it is Christmas time, the tree is there and the lights ... Rockefeller Center. I know we are going to be able to go out and see that for the girls who haven't seen it yet and I excited to show them around. It is nice, it kind of helps with team camaraderie and with us as a family kind of hanging out, seeing the different spots in the city, we look forward to it more."

Dolson and fellow senior Bria Hartley got to play in the Maggie Dixon Classic in MSG as freshmen as UConn defeated Ohio State 81-50 to win their NCAA Division I record-tying 88th straight game. Dolson had 15 rebounds and Hartley 13 points and five assists in the 2010 game.

"I was nervous, I had to guard Jantel Lavender but I had a lot of rebounds so I was happy," Dolson said. "It was so big an it is so cool to play at that arena, I am exciting."

Hartley and freshman Saniya Chong grew up the closest to The Garden so they have been there more than their teammates but it very gets old.

"I am a senior, it is New York and I am going to have a lot of family that is going to cheering for us and it is one of the greatest arenas so it doesn't get much better than that," Hartley said. "I used to go to quite a few of the Knicks games when I was real little. When I got older I didn't go as much but I went to Liberty games as well."

REMEMBER ME?
It's not too often that Geno Auriemma squares off with coaches who he saw play when they were high school stars but as luck would have it, the next two games fall under that category.

Obviously, he recruited Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott out of Washington, D.C. and Elliott was a key member of UConn's first national championship team. He also got to see Cal coach Lindsay Gottleib play at Scarsdale High School when Auriemma was trying to convince Hilary Howard to play for the Huskies (Howard chose to attend Duke).

"I have known her since she was 17 years old," Auriemma said. "I am thrilled because she has done in a way, did it the way you need to do it to be successful at this level today. She was an assistant for a number of years at some pretty good places, went to a mid major (UCSB), learned how to build a program, how to run a program and took that went to Cal and has them at places they haven't been in a long time or ever. I couldn't be more proud of her or happy for her to be honest with you."

While she may be somewhat quiet when she is away from the basketball court, UConn freshman guard Saniya Chong's game speaks volumes when it is time to play.

After making a couple of huge shots in Monday's win over Stanford Chong looked very much like a freshman in Friday's game at Maryland. She was timid, unsure of herself and caught in the dreaded "should I or shouldn't I? mode.

Even though he was without the services of All-American Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and key reserve Morgan Tuck, UConn coach Geno Auriemma didn't even summon Chong off the bench in the second half against Maryland.

I've seen some of the best players in UConn history get into a funk when they were benched by Auriemma but watching Chong's impressive first-half performance against Penn State on Sunday you would never know how much she had struggled just two days earlier.

Chong had 13 points (hitting 4 of 5 shots), four rebounds and an assist in the final nine minutes of the half as the Huskies turned a two-point deficit into a 15-point lead at the break.

“Last game I didn't really contribute so much,” Chong said. “Coming into this game I knew I had to create, I had to do what they needed me to do so coming out, hitting a couple of 3's, if that is what they needed that is what I am going to do.

“When a teammate is in trouble or needs help, I am right there. I know if things don't go my way, they will help me out. I think it helps a lot, games like this being up by a lot of points and then dropping a lot (of points off the lead), it was such a good experience for me being in that situation, knowing what to do.”

Chong finished with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 27 minutes in the 71-52 win over Penn State. Her teammates and coaches knew that the game’s outcome could have been quite a bit different if not for Chong’s impressive first half.

“She has great instincts,” Auriemma said. “You think Moriah Jefferson was fast, that was a blur going to the basket that one drive. She doesn't hesitate, we constantly encourage her to be more aggressive and when you are like that; if you play a bad game it doesn't bother you.
“She is a really good basketball player. Saniya has great talent but her instinct help that talent come out even more. We have a pretty good player and I want her to keep getting better. She has a lot of (guts) to make that 3 from the wing, same thing with the Stanford game and she is pretty bright.”

Bria Hartley, who delivered some pretty impressive performances against ranked teams when she was a freshman, liked what she saw from Chong against the Lady Lions.

"She has great instincts and she is aggressive so when she is aggressive like that, she can make plays," Hartley said. "We all know she can knock in shots so if she is doing this consistently we think she is going to be pretty good."