Tiffany Hayes headed to the sidelines with a tender knee, Bria Hartley had to exit after landing hard on her elbow and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis needed a second or two to shake off the cobwebs after being hit in the back of the head. In other words, it was a typically rough and tumble UConn/West Virginia game.

If UConn coach Geno Auriemma was asked to come up with a list of Big East teams which play harder than West Virginia, he would not need a heck of a lot of time. The West Virginia players may come and go but as long as fiery Mike Carey is coaching the Mountaineers they won't lack for effort or physicality.

"(West Virginia) makes it difficult to get things accomplished on the offensive end," Auriemma said.  "We’ve got to be really tough with the ball and really patient and decisive.  We have to make sure that whatever we do, know that there is going to be a lot of physical contact.  They did a good job tonight getting us out of any rhythm we wanted to be in.”

“When you go through the league season there are going to be a lot of (games like this) where it is not just pass and cut."

UConn won't be thrilled that it was outrebounded (37-35) but the Huskies displayed their toughness in other areas in posting a 79-60 win in their Big East home opener.

"It's always a tough game when you play them," UConn senior guard Tiffany Hayes said. "They always come out and try to punch us first, they are always physical with us especially down in the post and we had to fight back."

The good news is that none of the injuries were serious ones as all three players were able to return to the game. It did make for an interesting scene (or so I am told) in the locker room with ice bags being handed out to just about every UConn player.
"All in all givcen the way the game was played, given the nature of the game and the games we play with these guys I thought we grinded one out pretty good," Auriemma said.

"There were a lot of knockdowns and takedowns in this game. There is a lot of ice right now in the locker room."
Auriemma said the Heather Buck didn't play for matchup reasons since points were not going to be easy to come by but he is expecting her to see plenty of time when UConn plays at Notre Dame on Saturday.