University of Connecticut Athletics
No. 1 UConn Travels to Pepperdine
11/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PROBABLE STARTERS VS. PEPPERDINE 10 Sue Bird G Jr. 5-9 Syosset, NY 33 Shea Ralph G/F Sr. 6-0 Fayetteville, NC 15 Asjha Jones F/C Jr. 6-2 Piscataway, NJ 25 Svetlana Abrosimova F Sr. 6-2 St. Petersburg, Russia 32 Swin Cash F Jr. 6-2 McKeesport, PA OFF THE BENCH 34 Tamika Williams F Jr. 6-2 Dayton, OH 3 Diana Taurasi G/F Fr. 6-0 Chino, CA 22 Ashley Battle G Fr. 6-0 Pittsburgh, PA 20 Morgan Valley G Fr. 6-0 Colchester, VT 5 Maria Conlon G Fr. 5-9 Derby, CT 44 Christine Rigby C Sr. 6-6 Victoria, B.C. 13 Marci Czel G Sr. 5-7 Guilford, CT 23 Kennitra Johnson G So. 5-7 New Albany, IN
TONIGHT'S GAME
The Connecticut Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the country, face the
Pepperdine Waves in only the second meeting between the two teams in
the sport of women's basketball. UConn owns a 1-0 lead in the series
after defeating the Waves, 101-58, in Gampel during the 1999-2000
National Championship season. The Waves were one of eight
non-conference schools that the Huskies defeated in 1999-2000 who won
their regular season conference title. Pepperdine won the WCC title,
while the Huskies also defeated Penn State (Big Ten winner), Oklahoma
(Big 12 Tri-champs), Old Dominion (Colonial winner), Holy Cross
(Patriot League champs), Tennessee (Co-Champs of SEC), LaTech (Sunbelt
winner), and Hampton (MEAC champs).
THE LAST MEETING- HUSKIES ROUT PEPPERDINE
(AP- Nov. 28)- Shea Ralph scored nine points in the first five
minutes as UConn broke out to an 11-point lead and coasted to a 101-58
win over Pepperdine on Sunday.
Ralph, who was 7-of-8 from the floor on the night, has been near perfect in the past two games. She missed her first shot from the floor with 19:05 left in the game. It was her first miss in two games. The former national high school player of the year was 9-for-9 from the floor on Friday in UConn's 109-66 rout over No. 14 Old Dominion. Against Pepperdine, she hit all eight free throw attempts. Svetlana Abrosimova scored 19 points before leaving with a bloody nose in the final 6 1/2 minutes. UConn's dominance on the boards help fuel the Huskies' transition game. The Huskies outrebounded the Wave 42-29, led by Swin Cash's eight boards. UConn had 58 points in the paint and 18 off the fastbreak. Rasheeda Clark led Pepperdine with 19 points.
ROAD OPENERS
Pepperdine will be UConn's first road trip of the season; the Huskies
are 16-10 in road openers. However, in the Geno Auriemma era the
record stands at 11-4. In fact, it was a road test that provided
Auriemma with his first-ever victory as a head coach as he began his
career against Iona (11/23/85). In that game, Auriemma guided the
Huskies to a 73-67 victory.
UCONN AND THE WCC
UConn has never lost to an opponent from the West Coast Conference.
The Huskies own a 2-0 record against San Francisco and are 1-0 vs.
Pepperdine.
COAST-TO-COAST
UConn's coast-to-coast trip from Storrs, CT to Malibu, CA and to
Seattle, WA, will be its longest road swing of the year. From Storrs
to Malibu it's 2,945.8 miles. The next leg of the West Coast tour up
to Seattle is 1,145 miles. Finally, from Seattle back home is another
2978.6 miles. All together, the trip will be 7,069.4 miles. If someone
were to drive from place to place it is estimated the total trip would
take 119 hours and 20 minutes. That time is 40 minutes shy of exactly
five days.
TAURASI HOMECOMING
Considered by many the top prospect in the country coming out of high
school last season, Diana Taurasi (Fr., G/F) will get a chance to
return to her home state of California. As the Pepperdine campus is
just about an hour and a half from her hometown of Chino, CA, many of
her friends and family should be able use this as an opportunity to
see her play. Taurasi attended Don Lugo High School. Pepperdine's
Rasheeda Clark graduated from Chino HS and Tamara McDonald went to
Chaffey High. The three school's are all within a 20 mile radius of
one another.
THE BIG 18
The day before the Pepperdine game, Nov. 20, will be Maria Conlon's
(Fr., G, Derby, CT) birthday. Most notably, Conlon shares her birthday
with Robert F. Kennedy.
UCONN IN THE TIP-OFF CLASSIC
UConn's season opener versus Georgia was the third time the Huskies
opened the season in the Tip-Off Classic and second time the Huskies
were ranked No. 1 at the time of the game. Off the heels of a 35-0
season and a national championship, the No. 1 Huskies opened the
1995-96 season versus then-No. 4 LaTech in the Tip-Off in Knoxville,
TN. UConn suffered an 83-81 overtime loss to the Lady Techsters in the
closest margin of defeat ever in a Tip-Off game. Meanwhile, the 164
combined points were the most total points scored in a Tip-Off game.
UConn's second Tip-Off appearance came at the start of the 1996-97
season when they opened the year with a 74-56 win over Western
Kentucky in Palo Alto, CA. UConn's opener this season had all the
makings of a bad flashback as the Huskies again were coming off a
National Championship and were again facing a top-ranked opponent, No.
3 Georgia, in the season opener at the Tip-Off Classic. However, UConn
turned a potential barn-burner into a basketball clinic as the Huskies
routed No. 3 Georgia, 99-70, on national television, picking up right
where they left off.
RANKED FROM THE START
Since 1990-91, the Huskies have been ranked nationally at the start of
the season. UConn earned the AP No. 1 spot at the beginning of the
1995-96 season, the 1999-2000 season and at the start of this season.
UConn's lowest preseason ranking over the last 10 years was No. 24 by
the AP in 1990-91. Since an AP ranking of No. 4 to start 1994-95, the
Huskies have not opened the year lower than No. 6 (1997-98).
RANKED OPENERS
Despite UConn's loaded schedules over the past years, the Georgia game
was only the third time in history that the Huskies opened the year
versus a ranked opponent. They are currently 2-1 versus ranked teams
in season openers. The Huskies lost to then-No. 4 LaTech in the
Tip-Off in 1995 and defeated then-No. 21 Duke in the Four in the Fall
Classic (San Jose, CA) to open 1998.
'TIS THE SEASON OPENER
In season openers, UConn is now 19-8 (.692) overall and 12-4 (.733)
under Geno Auriemma. On that same note, Connecticut is 22-5 in home
openers and is 15-1 during the Auriemma tenure. The sole loss came to
Iowa (41-58, 11/29/90). On an even smaller scale, the Huskies are 2-0
in Hartford Civic Center home openers. In November, the opening month
of play, UConn is 22-1 in home games under Auriemma.
TRUE INCUMBENTS
Including the week of 11/13, the Huskies have been nationally ranked
in the Top 25 for 133 consecutive polls dating back to November 23,
1993 (seven seasons). UConn has been ranked No. 1 in the polls since
preseason of 1999 making their stay 21 consecutive weeks at the top; a
school record for consecutive rankings.
EARLY GAMERS
By 19 hours, the Nov. 12 start for UConn was the earliest tip-off to a
UConn women's basketball season in school history. The closest to it
was the 1998-99 season when Connecticut and Duke squared off against
one another on Nov. 13 in the Four in the Fall Classic in San Jose,
CA. The Georgia game start time was 4 p.m. ET, the 1998-99 UConn-Duke
game started at 6 p.m. PT.
WIRE-TO-WIRE-TO-WIRE?
UConn's remarkable journey to the national championship in 1999-2000
started with a preseason No. 1 ranking and ended with the same. The
hype currently surrounding this year's squad expects nothing less than
a repeat. LaTech is the only school in history to hold the No. 1 spot
for two consecutive seasons, 1980-82, when they also won back-to-back
championships. The last time a team was ranked wire-to-wire was
Tennessee in 1997-98. Prior to that season, Texas was ranked No. 1 all
through the 1985-86 season. (AP Rankings).
INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING
Several UConn players earned preseason honors as well. Svetlana
Abrosimova and Shea Ralph were both named preseason First Teamers by
AP, ESPN Magazine, Athlon Sports, Women's Basketball News and the BIG
EAST Conference, while Abrosimova was named Player of the Year by SI
for Women and Ralph was Player of the Year in the BIG EAST. Sue Bird,
Kelly Schumacher and Tamika Williams were all mentioned for preseason
accolades by various outlets, while newcomer Diana Taurasi earned
Rookie of the Year status in the league and was a Women's Basketball
News preseason all-Freshman pick.
HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA
Head Coach Geno Auriemma heads into his 16th season at the helm for
the Huskies. Entering the Pepperdine game, he is 394-95 (.805) overall
in his career, and has two national championships at Connecticut
(1995,2000). Auriemma is third among active Division I coaches in
winning percentage. He was also the first Division I coach (men or
women) in basketball history to earn five consecutive 30-plus winning
seasons... Auriemma has taken UConn to the 1995 and 2000 National
Championship, four Final Four appearances, seven Elite Eights and
eight Sweet Sixteen games. During his tenure, the team has also won 10
regular season BIG EAST titles and nine league tournament
championships, including the last seven consecutive titles in each
regular season and postseason. A WINNING PROGRAM Since UConn's first
NCAA Championship in 1995, the Huskies have had the most victories of
any other team over the last six seasons. UConn boasts a six-year
record of 201-14, followed closely by Tennessee with a record of
198-24.
HUSKIES HANDLE ELITE TEAMS
The Huskies ended the Georgia game 38-9 overall versus ranked
opponents over the past five seasons and are now 19-8 versus Top 10
opponents in that span. All-time, UConn is now 54-28 versus ranked
teams and 26-17 against Top 10-ranked teams. The Huskies finished the
1999-2000 season 16-1 versus ranked opponents and an astounding 10-1
vs. Top 10 foes. Four of the nine occasions that the Huskies reached
the century mark in 1999-2000 were against ranked teams. UConn boasted
an average margin of victory of 20.0 points over ranked opponents (and
a margin of defeat of 1.0 points).
HUSKIES DISMANTLE NO. 3
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The No. 1 nationally-ranked University of
Connecticut women's basketball team began defense of its national
championship in impressive fashion Sunday, rolling past No. 3
nationally-ranked Georgia 99-70 in the State Farm Hall of Fame Tip-Off
Classic at the Hartford Civic Center.
Playing before an advance sellout crowd of 16,294 and a national television audience, UConn wasted little time taking charge. The Huskies vaulted to a 29-point lead midway through the opening half and held a comfortable 54-31 advantage at intermission. In the second half, Georgia got within 12 points, 71-59 with eight minutes left, but the talented Huskies used their depth to wear down the Bulldogs. In the end, UConn had rebuilt the final margin to the same 29-point edge it held in the opening half. Connecticut two-time All-American Svetlana Abrosimova was brilliant throughout the contest, scoring a game-high 18 points and adding 11 assists, seven rebounds and four steals while playing 31 minutes without a turnover. The winners also had four other players in double figures. Non-starter Tamika Williams came off the bench to score 12 points while Sue Bird scored 11 and Shea Ralph and Swin Cash each tallied 10. The UConn bench totaled 42 points while the five starters recorded 57 points. Cash finished with a double-double, adding a team-high 10 rebounds to her 10-point scoring total. Georgia was led by non-starter Christi Thomas who scored 16 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds. Also in double figures for the Bulldogs were the sister duo of Coco and Kelly Miller, with 15 and 12 points respectively, and Deanna Nolan with 11. Connecticut was a sizzling 61.8% from the field (21 of 34) in the opening 20 minutes of play while limiting Georgia to just 31.3% from the floor. For the entire game, UConn shot 56.7% from the floor (38 of 67) while Georgia ended the game with a 37.5% showing, hitting 24 of 64 field goal tries. UConn, led by Abrosimova's 11 assists, totaled 25 assists on 38 field goals in the season-opening effort. The Huskies were six-of-12 from three-point range (50%) and clicked on 17-of-24 at the foul line (70.8%).
SVET SHINES IN TIP-OFF
Senior two-time All-American Svetlana Abrosimova opened the year with
a bang. The forward scored a game-high 18 points, dished a game and
career-high 11 assists, and grabbed a total of seven rebounds, all
without a turnover, en route to being named the ESPN/Tip-Off Player of
the Game. Abrosimova's season turnover totals have dropped steadily
since her freshman year, and only twice in her career (both last
season) did she finish a game with no turnovers.
RALPH OFF TO PERFECT START
After shooting a career-high .624 field goal percentage last season
(second in BIG EAST), senior All-American Shea Ralph is off to a
perfect start going 4-for-4 from the field versus No. 3 Georgia. She
added four assists, one steal and a block. The senior fouled out of
the game for only her third time in her career and first since
1998-99, versus Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Tournament.
THE YEAR OF THE DOGS
The Huskies return 10 letterwinners from a season ago. Here's what
else the Huskies return to the court- 92.0 % (2931-3184) total
points scored - 91.8% (1100-1198) field goals made - 91.6%
(2038-2223) field goal attempts - 91.0% (182-200) 3-point field
goals made - 91.3% (430-471) 3-point field goal attempts - 93.4%
(549-588) free throws made - 92.0% (762-828) free throw attempts -
87.8% (1327-1510) total rebounds - 93.0% (711-764) total assists -
92.5% (429-464) total steals - 93.3% (154-165) total blocks -
90.1% (6668-7400) total minutes played.
ABROSIMOVA AND SHEA STILL CLIMBING
Entering the Pepperdine game, Svetlana Abrosimova (1,616) is currently
ranked No. 5 in UConn's all-time career scoring list- 517 points
behind No. 4 Rebecca Lobo (2,133). Shea Ralph (1,396) is ranked No. 11
and is steadily climbing needing only 14 points to pass Chris Gedney
(1,409) and take over the No. 10 spot.
ONE TOUGH GAME AFTER ANOTHER
The 2000-2001 season is going to provide another tough schedule for
the Connecticut Huskies. The Huskies will face six schools ranked in
the preseason top 12 in both the AP and ESPN polls, including No. 2
Tennessee who they will face twice. The Huskies will also see action
against No. 22 (ESPN) Boston College and No. 24 (ESPN) Illinois, while
George Washington, Pepperdine and Virginia Tech all received votes
between the two polls. UConn will play 11 schools who competed in the
NCAA tournament last season, including two 1999-2000 final four teams
(Tennessee, Rutgers), two final eight schools (Georgia, LaTech), two
sweet sixteen schools (Notre Dame, Old Dominion), three second round
schools (Boston College, George Washington, Illinois) and two first
round teams (Holy Cross, Pepperdine). UConn adds ACC school Wake
Forest to the schedule as well as Virginia Tech, the newest member of
the BIG EAST conference.
UCONN VERSUS THE FIELD
Of the 23 scheduled teams UConn will face this year, none hold a
winning record against the Huskies. With UConn's win over Georgia, the
Huskies move to 2-1 in that series. LaTech and Wake Forest come the
closest though. The LaTech series is tied and the Wake Forest meeting
will be the first between the two in the sport of women's basketball.
HUSKIES RETURN NATIONAL, BIG EAST LEADERS
Last season, UConn led the BIG EAST and the nation in several
statistical categories. The team will try to do the same this year. As
a team, UConn led the nation in five categories - Scoring Margin
(+30.6), Field Goal Percentage (.539), Field Goal Percentage Defense
(.339), Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.425) and Won-Lost
Percentage (36-1, .973). Individually, Sue Bird was second in the
nation in three-point field goal percentage (.497) and first in the
BIG EAST. Beyond Bird, a single individual player for UConn was rarely
found in the top five in any individual conference category and not in
the top 20 in national statistics. Teamwise, the Huskies led the
conference in nine different categories.
ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE HUSKIES
The University of Connecticut women's basketball team will have
another `first' to talk about this year. Every single regular season
UConn game will be televised during the 2000-2001 season. That's more
television coverage received than any other women's team in the
nation, ever. Along with the national games telecast by Fox, ESPN,
ESPN2 and CBS, UConn will have the rest of the games in the 2000-2001
season televised by Connecticut Public Television. CPTV has been
covering the UConn women's program since the 1993-94 season. During
the past six years, 106 UConn games have been televised regionally by
CPTV. WTIC Radio will broadcast all the women's basketball games for
the 2000-2001 season as well.
UCONN BASKETBALL -AN ADVANCE SELLOUT
Connecticut's entire 16-game home schedule (14 regular season games, 2
exhibitions) in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027 capacity) and
the Hartford Civic Center (16,294 capacity) is an advance sellout.
UCONN TO HOST 2000-2001 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
The University of Connecticut will serve as host for the 18th BIG EAST
Women's Basketball Championship, March 4-7, 2000, at the Harry A.
Gampel Pavilion in Storrs... UConn has hosted the 13-team tournament
on five previous occasions: 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1997...
Connecticut was awarded the 2000 and 2001 tournaments by a vote of
conference Directors of Athletics... The 2001 league championship will
be held March 3-6.
ABROSIMOVA, RALPH EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Seniors Svetlana Abrosimova and Shea Ralph received recognition as
preseason First-Team All-America members by The Associated Press...
Abrosimova and Ralph are the fourth pair of teammates, second from
Connecticut, to make the preseason team since it started in 1994,
following Catchings and Semeka Randall last season, Catchings and
Holdsclaw in 1998 and Connecticut's Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters
in 1995.
BIG EAST DEBUTS A NEW LOOK- WELCOME THE HOKIES
The BIG EAST Conference will continue its 16-game regular season
league schedule during the 2000-2001 season and invites Virginia Tech
into the mix... Each team will play three conference opponents twice
(home and away) and will have five additional league home games and
five road games... The Huskies have drawn home-and-away games with the
following teams: Miami, Villanova, Syracuse... UConn will host
Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, West Virginia... The team
will travel to Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and
Virginia Tech.
INJURY UPDATES
Senior center Kelly Schumacher is sidelinedfor two
weeks due to a stress fracture in her right foot and then will be reevaluated.
