Monday, April 23, 2012

Who says 13 is the luckiest number? 12 is looking pretty good to former UConn Star Asjha Jones. Today the USA Women's Basketball Selection Committee named her the 12th and final member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team roster. The 6-3 forward from the WNBA's Connecticut Sun was a member of the 2010 USA World Championship Team. A 10-year WNBA veteran, Jones is a two-time WNBA All-Star and was named to the 2008 All-WNBA second team. She competes professionally in Europe and after helping propel her Rivas Ecopolis (Spain) squad to the 2012 EuroLeague championship game, Jones was named the 2012 EuroLeague Final Eight MVP. She closed out the season averaging a EuroLeague career-high 17.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for Rivas in EuroLeague games. Jones becomes the 6th member from the University of Connecticut named to this year's squad (record for one school on one U.S. Olympic Team roster, men's or women's basketball). In her four-year (1999-2002) collegiate career Jones, who played for USA Head Coach Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut, aided the Huskies to a 136-9 record (.938), won a pair of NCAA crowns (2000, 2002) while advancing to four NCAA Tournaments, including the 2001 Final Four, and earned four Big East regular season and tournament titles.

Jones is joined on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team roster by LSU's Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), UConn's Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), UConn's Swin Cash(Chicago Sky), Tennessee's Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), UConn's Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), LSU's Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Louisville's Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), UConn's Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Tennessee's Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), UConn's Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), and Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx). The well-balanced and talented U.S. squad will compete for the USA’s fifth-consecutive Olympic gold medal in London this summer. Auriemma will be assisted by DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno, 1988 Olympic gold medalist and Washington Mystics assistant coach Jennifer Gillom and Atlanta Dream head coach Marynell Meadors.

Monday, April 16, 2012

And with the 14th pick in 2012 WNBA Draft the Atlanta Dream select...

Tiffany Hayes from the University of Connecticut

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Today UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma announced So. F Michala Johnson will be transferring to the University of Wisconsin after the completion of the Spring 2012 semester. Johnson cited a desire to play closer to her home (Bellwood, IL) and a chance to play with her young sister Malayna, who has verbally committed to playing for the Badgers in the Fall of 2013. Best of Luck and continued good health, Michala!! We will miss you!!

Monday, April 02, 2012

Good Luck and good-bye Tiff, we will miss you!!!

Sr. G Tiffany Hayes graduates this season having proved a lot of critics wrong along the way. Was she perfect? No. Was she the best every night? No. Did she play her butt off for her team every second she was on the court? Yes. But she leaves us as one of the best all-around, do a little-bit-of-everything players.

During her 4-year career, she helped UConn win two NCAA Championships while playing in 154 games in a Husky uniform (with a final record of 147-7) and finishes in the Top 10 in scoring (1,801). She also finishes her career in the Top 10 of the UConn record books in a host of other catergories: Free Throws Made (431, 2nd), Games Played (154, t-2nd), 3-pt. FGs Made (186, 8th), and Assists (483, 9th). She is also 12th all-time with 223 steals. In her senior season, Hayes established career-highs in scoring (14.7), rebounding (5.8), steals (2.3), FG shooting (50.3%) and 3-pt. FG shooting (40.7%) on her way to being named an AP All-American (3rd team), the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 NCAA Kingston Regional, and selected as an unianimous All-Big East First Team member. She is also averaged 3.3 assists and 30.2 minutes. Hayes ranked second on the team is scoring, rebounding, and minutes and first in steals. The highlight of her senior season was when she set the UConn 2-game scoring record with a combined 68 points at Syracuse Jan. 25 (career-high 35) and against South Florida Jan. 28 (33). Other honors for Hayes include being named to the All-Big East First Team (10-11), Second Team (09-10), All-Rookie Team (08-09), and was 2010-11 All-American Honorable Mention.

We will truly miss you Tiff! Most notably, we will miss your heart, your passion, your committment, your determination, your loyalty, and your teamwork!! You make us very proud to call you one of "Our Girls"!!! We all wish you the best of luck on your future, whereever it may take you (and I believe it will be on a WNBA roster)!!!! Stay healthy and take care of you mind, body, and spirit!!!!!

Sunday, April 01, 2012

1-seed (3/3) Connecticut Huskies (33-5, 16-3 BE)

Results: Notre Dame 83, Connecticut 75 OT
Player of the Game: Sr. G Natalie Novosel, ND (20p, 7r, 4a, 1s, 38m)
Def. Player of the Game: Jr. G Skylar Diggins (2dr, 3s, 2b, 44m)
Fr. Player of the Game: Fr. W Kaleena M. Lewis (13p, 7r, 1a, 1s, 1b, 36m)
Stat of the Game: Off. Rebs.: UConn 15, Notre Dame 20

Summary: One of the best games ever played, so if you didn't watch it, that sucks for you because I'm too exhausted to summarize it. Suffice it to say, our UConn girls played their butts off and deserved to win. It just was not meant to be this year. Next year, women's college basketball --- WATCH OUT --- UConn will be back and back with avengence!!!!!!!

Lost in the disappointment of losing in the Final 4 was newly crowned UConn So. All-American G Bria Hartley scoring her 1,000th career point (making her only the 3rd UConn to ever accomplish the feat - Maya Moore and Svetlana Abrosimova). Congratulations, Bria...you make us proud to call you one of "Our Girls"!!!
Game notes (pdf) for today's NCAA Final 4 game vs. 1-seed (4/4) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (34-3).

Event: 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament
Location: Pepsi Center (Denver, CO)
Time: 6:30pm (ET)
TV: ESPN
Internet: ESPN3
Radio: UConn Radio Network/WTIC
Live Stats: GameTracker