Today current UConn All-American Bria Hartley, former UConn standout Ann Strother and the 2012 USA Women's 3x3 World Championship Team (9-0) went undefeated in capturing the inaugural FIBA 3x3 World Championship for Women Gold Medal in Athens, Greece. Defeating Australia (8-1) 19-18 in the semifinals, the U.S. came from behind to capture gold with a 17-16 victory over France (8-1) in the gold medal game. Australia edged Ukraine (6-3) 18-17 in the bronze medal game. Teaming up with Strother and Hartley were Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins and Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike.

Today incoming UConn women’s basketball freshmen Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck each posted double-doubles to lead the USA Basketball U18 National Team to a 71-47 victory over Brazil on Sunday evening in the gold medal game of the 2012 U18 FIBA Americas Championship. Tuck netted a team-high 15 points and snared a game-high 11 rebounds while Stewart scored 13 points and corralled 10 boards to go along with four assists en route to being named Tournament MVP. Fellow incoming UConn freshman Moriah Jefferson capped a solid tournament with a four-point, four assist effort for the U.S.

Golden Girls!!!

1-seed United States of America (8-0)

Results: United States 86, France 50
Player of the Game: F Candace Parker (21p, 11r, 2a, 1b, 21m)
Def. Player of the Game: G Diana Taurasi (3dr, 29m)
Stat of the Game: A/TO Ratio: USA 22/11, France 12/21

Summary: Owning a comfortable 12-point lead at halftime over previously unbeaten France (7-1), the U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team (8-0) blew the game wide open with a 19-0 run in the third quarter that propelled the USA to a 86-50 win and 5th-straight Olympic Gold Medal on Saturday evening at North Greenwich Arena in London, England. In capturing its unprecedented fifth-straight Olympic Gold (dating back to 1996), a feat never before accomplished in any women’s traditional team sport, the USA women have compiled a 41-game Olympic winning streak that began with the 1992 Bronze Medal game. Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) led the way for the US, shooting 10-of-14 from the field on her way to 21 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds, and Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) added 11 points. In the bronze medal game earlier today, Australia (6-2) beat Russia (4-4) 83-74.

All 12 U.S. players scored in a balanced attack that featured 22 assists on 34 made field goals. The gold medal is a third for Bird, Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), who added nine points and six assists, and Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), who finished with four points and five rebounds. While Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) and Parker also earned gold in 2008, Swin Cash (Chicago Sky) picked up her first gold medal in 2004. Earning Olympic gold for their first time were: Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx). With her Olympic gold, Moore becomes the seventh U.S. woman to have earned NCAA and WNBA titles, a FIBA World Championship gold medal and an Olympic gold medal. The previous six include Bird, Cash, Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Taurasi and Kara Wolters.

“You know, you go into every game thinking that there’s going to be some things that you have to do, and if you do those things you’re going to have a chance you can win it,” said Geno Auriemma, USA and University of Connecticut head coach who was assisted by DePaul University’s Doug Bruno, Jennifer Gillom of the Washington Mystics and Marynell Meadors of the Atlanta Dream. “France was probably playing as well as anytime I’ve ever seen them, since I’ve been the coach anyway. And when you’re going into it the way they’re playing, they got a lot of confidence. And we tried to really disrupt them and get them into the kind of game they weren’t comfortable playing, and I think we did that right from the beginning. When Candace Parker came in the game, the game changed completely. I thought she was the biggest difference in the game tonight. We all just kind of took that and ran with it. We beat a really good team, but we’re a great team.”

“I think our depth is by far the biggest key for us,” Bird said. “We are able to wear teams down. Not very many teams go 12 deep and with that over a two-week tournament, these teams have to play a lot of minutes ... seven, eight players play a lot of minutes, and I think none of us have to. So we are just able to wear teams down and by the end for the most part you can see teams get tired, and that’s where we really capitalize.”

Game notes (pdf) for today's Gold Medal Game vs. France (7-0).

Event: 2012 Summer Olympics
Location: North Greenwich Arena (London, England)
Time: 4:00pm (ET)
TV: NBC
Internet: NBC Live Extra
Live Stats: London 2012

Today UConn Asst. Coach Shea Ralph confirmed (via ASGR's Brett McCormick) that Jr. G Lauren Engeln will be transferring prior to the start of the Fall 2012 semester. Engeln cited a desire for more playing time, but has yet to pick the school she will be transferring to. She becomes the third player from UConn's Class of 2014 to transfer (Samarie Walker, Kentucky & Michala Johnson, Wisconsin). Best of Luck, Lauren!! We will miss you!!

Today former UConn NPOTY & All-American and current Univ. of Hartford Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti was named as one of six members of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2013, which was announced on Monday evening on ESPN2 during the USA vs. Brazil game at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. The six members of the Class of 2013 are: Gary Blair (coach), Jim Foster (coach), Peggie Gillom-Granderson (player), Jen Rizzotti (player), Annette Smith-Knight (player), and Sue Wicks (player). The Class of 2013 will be formally introduced at the 2012 State Farm Tip-Off Classic between Baylor and Kentucky on November 13th in Waco, TX, and inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on June 8, 2013 in Knoxville, TN.

Rizzotti is the second former UConn Women's Basketball Student-Athlete to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as she joins Rebecca Lobo who is a member of the Class of 2010. UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma was previously inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2006. Rizzotti (UConn `96) led the Huskies to their first national championship in 1995 with a perfect 35-0 record. She finished her collegiate career with 1,540 points, 637 assists, and 349 steals. The New Fairfield, Conn. native was a two-time Kodak All-American and NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player (1995, 1996). Rizzotti was named the 1996 Wade Trophy winner, Associated Press Player of the Year, and BIG EAST Player of the Year. Rizzotti currently ranks second in career assists (637), second in career steals (349) and is first in steals by a senior (112) in UConn's record book.

Follow along here for all the latest news, schedules, results, and updates from the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. The Opening Ceremony is July 27th even though the games officially get under way on July 25th. Below is a quick rundown of the USA Women's Olympic Basketball Team's schedule (TV schedule released, but all games will be on one of the NBC networks). A special good luck to the entire team especially all of the former UConn athletes competing and Geno!! And good luck to ALL the USA Olympic athletes. Play hard, be safe, stay healthy, and BRING HOME GOLD!!!!

2012 Summer Olympic Games - USA Women's Basketball (London, England)
7/26 9-11 am Practice Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
7/27 TBD Practice UEL Docklands
7/28 4:45 pm USA - Croatia Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
7/29 10:30 am Practice UEL Docklands
7/30 10:15 pm USA - Angola Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
7/31 11 am Practice UEL Docklands
8/1 10:15 pm USA - Turkey Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
8/2 11 am Practice UEL Docklands
8/3 10:15 pm USA - Czech Republic Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
8/4 11 am Practice UEL Docklands
8/5 4:45 pm USA - China Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
8/6 10:30 am Practice UEL Docklands
8/7 TBD Quarterfinals* Olympic Park, Basketball Arena
8/8 TBD Practice UEL Docklands
8/9 Semifinals^ North Greenwich Arena
8/10 TBD Practice UEL Docklands
8/11 TBD Finals^ North Greenwich Arena

*team must qualify to advance to qtrs.
^team must win to advance to semis/finals

Note: All times listed are EST. Local time in England is +5 hours.

Today Fr. F Breanna Stewart was named the 2012 Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year in Los Angeles, Calif. at a dinner emceed by ESPN’s Stuart Scott. Joining Tina Charles (2005-06) and Maya Moore (2006-07), Stewart becomes the third Husky to be honored as the Gatorade High School Female Athlete of the Year. Established in 1985, the Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. In addition to athletic excellence, the award recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field. In 2003, the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards were established to identify and honor the nation's top overall male and female high school athletes from among the 12 Gatorade National Players of the Year honored during the high school athletic season. All Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year nominees will walk the ESPY red carpet and be featured as special guests during The ESPY Awards Show. The show will take place Wednesday evening and air live on ESPN at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Today UConn All-American Jr. G Bria Hartley was named to the 4-player team that will be representing the U.S. at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup. She will be teaming up with Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, Maryland's Alyssa Thomas, and Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike to form the quartet of All-Americans set to take on the world in the 2012 FIBA 3x3 World Cup which is scheduled for Aug. 23-26 in Athens, Greece.

Today the Big East Conference just announced its schedule grid for the upcoming 2012-13 Big East regular season. UConn will play a home and home series with Notre Dame for the fourth straight season. With West Virginia leaving for the Big 12, each team will now play two teams twice. In a little bit of a surprise, Marquette was the team chosen to play the Huskies twice in the 2012-13 season. UConn will host DePaul, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Villanova and will play on the road against Cincinnati, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's and South Florida. Unlike past seasons when the Big East announced grids for multiple years, with the expected departures and arrivals of teams this schedule formula is good for only the upcoming season.

Here is a look at who the teams will play twice during the 2012-13 season:
(The dates and times of the game are expected to be announced around Labor Day.)

Cincinnati: Marquette, Rutgers
Connecticut: Marquette, Notre Dame
DePaul: Louisville, Pittsburgh
Georgetown: Pittsburgh, Syracuse
Louisville: DePaul, South Florida
Marquette: Cincinnati, Connecticut
Notre Dame: Connecticut, Providence
Pittsburgh: DePaul, Georgetown
Providence: Notre Dame, Villanova
Rutgers: Cincinnati, St. John's
St. John's: Rutgers, St. John's
Seton Hall: St. John's, South Florida
South Florida: Louisville, Seton Hall
Syracuse: Georgetown, Villanova
Villanova: Providence, Syracuse

Today UConn received its first oral commitment from  HS player in over a year, but it was from a top player in the Class of 2014, not Class of 2013 which the Huskies still have no commits from. Courtney Ekmark, a 6'0 G/F from the nation's #1 Girls HS Basketbal Team, undefeated (30-0) St. Mary's HS (Phoenix, AZ), verbally committed to UConn over Arizona State, Duke, North Carolina, and Stanford. Ekmark, who played a big role in St. Mary's finishing as the No. 1-ranked high school girls team in the country last season, is ranked 13th overall and 3rd at her position by ESPN HoopGurlz and 9th overall by All-Star Girls Report. Welcome to the UConn family, Courtney (see you in a few years...lol!!!)

Today UConn's entire #1-ranked recruiting class was named to the 2012 U18 FIBA Americas National Team. Incoming Freshmen Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck all made the 12-player squad which is set to regroup at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., for its first training camp from May 28-June 1, 2012. The USA squad will then return to the USOTC for its final training camp Aug. 4-12, 2012, prior to traveling to Puerto Rico for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. The U18 Championship, held in Gurabo, Puerto Rico, Aug. 15-19, 2012, will see the three medal-winning teams secure a berth in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women. The 2013 U19 Worlds will be hosted by Lithuania, July 18-28, 2012. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.

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.

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

Tiffany Hayes from the University of Connecticut

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!!

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!!!!!

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

Today UConn So. G was named to the 2011-12 WBCA/State Farm D1 Coaches' All-America Team at a ceremony during the 2012 Final 4 in Denver, CO. Hartley becomes the 14th Husky to be honored on the WBCA/State Farm (formerly Kodak) All-America squad and Connecticut now has 26 selections all-time. Hartley is only the fourth UConn sophomore to be named to the team along with Svetlana Abrosimova (1998-99), Diana Taurasi (2001-02) and Maya Moore (2008-09). She averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists during her sophomore campaign. She was tabbed an All-Big East First Team selection a year after being named the Big East Rookie of the Year. She has also earned a spot on the Big East All-Tournament squad in each of the last two seasons.

2011-12 WBCA/State Farm D1 Coaches' All-America Team:
Jr. F Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Jr. G Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
Jr. C Brittney Griner, Baylor 
So. G Bria Hartley, Connecticut
Sr. F Glory Johnson, Tennessee
Sr. G Shenise Johnson, Miami
So. F Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
Sr. F Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford
So. G Odyssey Sims, Baylor
So. F Alyssa Thomas, Maryland

UCONN = EXCELLENCE

There's really no other way to describe it especially since today USA Basketball named the first 11 members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team and five of them (not to mention the team's head coach Geno Auriemma) are UConn Huskies alumni at a press conference live from the 2012 Women's Final 4 in Denver, CO. The five former Huskies named to the final roster are Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, and Diana Taurasi.

The well-balanced and talented core of the U.S. squad features a trio of two-time Olympic gold medalists, four athletes who have each earned one Olympic gold medal and four newcomers to the Olympic stage. They along with the final athlete to be named at a later date will compete for the USA’s fifth-consecutive Olympic gold medal in London this summer. The athletes were selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and are pending final approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Named to their third Olympic team were Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), and Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), all of whom won gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Competing in her second Olympics after winning gold in Athens in 2004 is Cash (Chicago Sky); while Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) and Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) captured their Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008. Playing on the Olympic stage for the first time will be Charles (Connecticut Sun), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Moore (Minnesota Lynx) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx). Those still in the running for the 12th and final Olympic roster spot include former Huskies Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun) and Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun).