University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Women to Host Wake Forest
12/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UConn vs. Wake Forest -- Friday, Dec. 22, 2000 -- Harry A. Gampel Pavilion -- 2 p.m.
TODAY'S GAME
The Connecticut Huskies (7-0), ranked No. 1 in the country, face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the first-ever meeting between the two teams in the sport of womens basketball. Wake Forest will be the first and only ACC team the Huskies will face during the regular season. UConn holds a slight 9-8 edge over a combined five ACC schools. Only the ACC's North Carolina holds a winning record over UConn (2-1). The last time the Huskies faced an ACC opponent was the opening game of the 1998-99 season when then-No. 3 UConn defeated then-No. 21 Duke 104-74, in the Four in the Fall Classic in San Jose, CA.
THE BIG 400
When UConn defeated Illinois, it was the 400th career win for UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. His record is currently 400-95 (.808). Auriemma became the 30th coach in the history of the game to eclipse the 400 win mark, having done it in just 16 seasons. He became the second coach this season to go over 400 as just recently Villanova head coach Harry Perretta collected his 400th victory in a 60-55 win over Temple. Auriemma joins Perretta and Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer to give the BIG EAST three current head coaches on the 400-or-more win list.
STREAKS
Overall, the Illinois game was UConn's 24th consecutive win (since 2/2/00), currently the longest unbeaten streak in Div. I women's basketball. The Huskies are currently riding a 12-game home winning streak (including HCC games, not including exhibition games) dating back to the Tennessee game last season (2/2/00). Entering the Wake Forest game in Gampel, the Huskies have won their last nine games (not exhib.) dating back to Feb. 2. For away regular season games, the Huskies carry a 17-game winning streak dating back to 2/13/99 when they suffered an 82-77 loss at Old Dominion. The Miami game was UConn's 25th consecutive regular season BIG EAST win since the Huskies suffered a 78-66 loss to Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Jan. 23, 1999.
WELCOME BACK!
Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis is a familiar face around Gampel having served as an assistant coach at UConn for two seasons during 1995-97. Curtis helped lead UConn to a two-year record of 67-5, which included two BIG EAST Championships, a Final Four (1996) and Final Eight appearance (1997). Auriemma and Curtis actually go even farther back than UConn as assistant coaches together at the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan from 1981- 83. Auriemma was the primary assistant coach from 1981-85, while Curtis was there for two seasons.
A PEEK AT WAKE FOREST
The Demon Deacons are 7-2 overall (its best start since 1992-93) coming off a 77-68 overtime win over Quinnipiac in Hamden, CT. The Deacons saw a four-game winning streak snapped after their loss to then-No. 24 Virginia, 77-61, in the conference opener for both schools, and have since won their last two games. WFU's 5-1 record to start the season was its best start since 1992-93, and the four- game winning streak was its longest since the 1996-97 season. The 2000-2001 season marks the 30th anniversary for women's basketball at Wake Forest. The last time Wake Forest defeated a Top 25 team was on January 16, 2000, when the Deacs topped #15/12 UNC in Winston-Salem, 69-56.
A BLOCK PARTY OF THEIR OWN
Wake Forest set a new school record on Dec. 5 versus Liberty when it blocked 11 shots on the night. Five different players contributed to the effort. The 11-block performance was the best by an ACC school in the past two seasons. The ACC record is 15, set on two different occassions. UConn last blocked 11 shots in the national championship game versus Tennessee. Kelly Schumacher was the main contributer setting a championship game record of nine blocks.
SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE
As of Dec. 18, the Deacs were ranked second in the ACC in three- point field goal percentage shooting .366 (37-101) from behind the arc. Interestingly enough, the Huskies are currently ranked first in the BIG EAST in three-point field goal percentage defense holding opponents to a dismal clip of .183 (15-82). Meanwhile, the Huskies have a similar three-point fg percentage of 38.1% (40-105), good for fifth in the conference.
THE OPPONENTS
The two teams don't have a single common opponent. They have both only faced one ranked team at the time of the game- UConn defeated No. 2 Georgia, 99-70, while Wake Forest lost to No. 20 Virginia 77-61. As of December 18, the combined record of all of Wake's first seven opponents (not including New Orleans) is 22-35 (27-37 including UNO), while UConn's seven opponents post a 36-24 overall record. Of Wake's opponents only Virginia and New Orleans have winning records, 7-3 and 5-2, respectively. Meanwhile, of UConn's opponents, only Illinois (3-6) and Holy Cross (5-5) don't have winning records.
THE LONG STRETCH
The Illinois game on Dec.10 wrapped up a six-day stretch in which the Huskies played three games, two of which were on the road. From that point until the New Year begins, Connecticut will only have played only two games in 23 days. On the 22nd UConn will face Wake Forest in Storrs, CT, before squaring off against Tennessee on the 30th in the Hartford Civic Center.
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).
TRUE INCUMBENTS
Including the week of 12/18, the Huskies have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 138 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 24 consecutive weeks at the top; a school record for consecutive rankings.
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 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).
HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA
Head Coach Geno Auriemma is in his 16th season at the helm for the Huskies. Entering the Wake Forest game, he is 400-95 (.808) 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.
UCONN'S LAST GAME- HUSKIES TOP ILLINI
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP)- Senior All-American Shea Ralph scored aseason-high 24 points as she directed the unbeaten and No. 1 nationally-ranked University of Connecticut women's basketball team to a 97-55 road win over Illinois, handing UConn head coach Geno Auriemma his 400th collegiate coaching victory.
UConn, a spotless 7-0 on the year and riding a 24-game winning streak dating back to the mid-point of the 1999-2000 national championship season, jumped to a 30-point halftime lead (55-25) and coasted to the victory.
The triumph for Auriemma saw his superb16-year overall record at Connecticut improve to 400-95 (80.8% winning effort).
In addition to Ralph's 24-point effort (9-of-11 from the field), UConn got 15 points from two-time senior All-American Svetlana Abrosimova (6-of-7 from the field), 12 points from junior Swin Cash, and 10 points from senior Christine Rigby who scored in double figures for the first time in her Husky career.
After taking its 30-point halftime lead, Connecticut built its advantage as high as 48 points (89-41) before settling for the 42-point margin of victory.
UConn finished the game hitting on 55.4% of its field goal attempts (36 of 65) and the Huskies chalked up 26 assists on its 36 baskets with junior guard Sue Bird leading the way with 10 assists. UConn also sported a 41-26 rebounding edge with Tamika Williams pulling down 10.
Illinois, 3-5 on the overall season, was led offensively by Iveta Marcauskaite with 12 points and Shavonna Hunter added 10. The Illini shot 38.9% from the field (21 of 54).
LOTS OF POINTS- LOTS OF SCORERS
The Huskies, who currently lead the nation in scoring offense averaging 93.3 ppg, now boast five scorers averaging double-figures for the first time this season. Svet (16.4), Swin (13.3), Shea (10.9), Asjha (10.6) and Tamika (10.1) are currently averaging in double-figure scoring. Four of the five are currently starting for UConn, while Tamika gets her scoring from the bench.
TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING
The Husky offense, known for its scoring, is one of the most unselfish teams in the country. UConn's assist to basket ratio is pretty impressive with 68% of UConn's baskets a result of an assist. The Huskies average 24.0 apg, while the most assists any other team has had against the Huskies was 14 by Georgia and Washington (Holy Cross had five). Four different players have led the Huskies in assists this season. UConn point guard Sue Bird is the team leader with 36 assists (5.14 apg), but is followed closely by forward Svetlana Abrosimova who has dished 35 assists (5.00 apg) so far. Abrosimova also boasts a conference best 5.83 A/TO ratio, with only six turnovers on the season.
HOT TICKET
The 1,516 fans that packed the Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables was a sell-out and the second highest crowd in history at the Knight Complex. The Huskies drew 6,098 fans to the opening night of the Key Bank Arena in Seattle, WA., when UConn defeated UW, 90-63, setting a precedence for women's games in the arena (the men drew 6,313 the following night). UConn drew record crowds on the road in four different arenas in 1999-2000.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS
As of Dec. 11, the Huskies have led the nation in home attendance with a total of 42,615 fans in three home games. Tennessee is next with 39,618 fans in three home games. UConn is averaging 14,205 fans, with the remaining of UConn's games already advanced sellouts. UConn currently holds the individual game attendance record for the season with a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center in the home opener versus Georgia.
TRAILBLAZERS
During its last outing against Illinois, UConn trailed after the first basket of the game, but eight seconds later scored the tying hoop (2-2) and never relinquished the lead. On three occasions this season, the Huskies have never trailed during the game. The Huskies have only trailed, albeit briefly, in four contests.
THE BENCH FACTOR
Overall, UConn's bench is outscoring opponent reserves by a 202-120 margin. Williams leads UConn off the bench averaging 10.1 ppg. For the first time this season, the UConn bench was outscored (31-17) during the December game against Miami. The last time an opposing bench bettered that of the Huskies was during last season's BIG EAST Conference Tournament final against Rutgers. Thanks to a 13-point effort from Usha Gilmore, the Scarlet Knights' bench edged UConn's, 22-20. Last season, it was Holy Cross who was the first team whose bench outscored UConn's, as the Crusaders amassed the same number of points as did Miami, 31-30.
"HAIRY" START
Much has been made about the appearance of Svetlana Abrosimova's hair, including an SI feature story, but have the longer locks impacted her performance? So far this season, she has led UConn in points in three of seven contests with a team leading 115 points. She is also topping the squad in steals (20) and is only one assist shy of the lead with 35 (Bird has 36). The chart below shows her combined average of the past three years with the shorter do' seven games into a season along with where her averages stand at this point in 2000:
Pts. 3Pt. FT Reb A Stl2000 16.4 1.1 2.4 5.6 5 2.91997-99 15.2 1 2.8 7 3.2 2.6
RIGHT ON PACE
Listed in nearly every pre-season publication as the odds on favorite to repeat and defend the national title, an early check in (see graph below) shows that through seven games the Huskies are right where they need to be when compared to the championship seasons of 1994-95 and 1999-00:
Stats are through the first seven games of each season.
Bold indicates which year leads.
1994-95 1999-00 2000-01Points Scored 654 626 653Points Allowed 349 429 390Avg. Margin of Victory 43.6 28.1 37.6FG 254 234 247FGA 480 437 4583FG 35 33 403FGA 80 84 105FT 111 125 119FTA 163 175 175Rebounds 387 308 294Assists 165 146 168Blocks 53 32 36Steals 129 82 121
HOT SHOOTING SVET
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 in UConn's season opener versus Georgia. She saved her best shooting performance against Washington, going 10-of-11 from the floor and pulling down six rebounds. She led the team in scoring in UConn's first three games, and has scored in double-figures in all seven contests, and she hasn't cooled off yet. Overall entering the Wake Forest game, the forward is 45-of-65 (.692), from the floor.
IT'S NOT SVET'S TURN
Abrosimova's season turnover totals have dropped steadily since her freshman year, and five times in her career did she finish a game with no turnovers, including three times already this season- Georgia, George Washington and Holy Cross. So far on the season, Svet has only six turnovers in 170 minutes of play. She is currently leading the BIG EAST in assist/turnover ratio with an astounding 5.83 assists per turnover.
STEADY FLOW OF CASH
Swin Cash had been UConn's most consistent player on the boards until faltering against Illinois, when she finished with only two rebounds. Despite the low numbers, the junior forward still leads the team with 48 total rebounds (6.9 rpg). Cash opened the year with her seventh career double-double over then-No. 3 Georgia and had the second of the season and eighth of her career versus Miami with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Cash, a starter, is also tied for the team lead in blocks with nine total.
AID FROM ASJHA
Asjha Jones started her first game of the regular season, and first since her freshman year, against Pepperdine on Nov. 21. She is currently third in scoring for the Huskies averaging 10.9 ppg. She has already recorded a career-high of five assists versus Washington, and a career-high five steals versus Holy Cross. In just seven games, the forward/center has had 13 steals and 15 assists. Last season she finished the year with 20 steals and 33 assists.
WILLIAMS ON THE MOVE
Tamika Williams picked up from where she left off last year with a stellar 7-for-7 shooting performance versus Pepperdine, a 5-of-7 game against Washington, and has been a combined 12-of-16 in the last five games. The junior forward led the league last season with a .714 clip (115-161) and is currently shooting 29-of-39 in seven games (.744) to lead the team. Williams scored a season high 15 points versus Pepperdine.
ABROSIMOVA AND SHEA STILL CLIMBING
Entering the Wake Forest game, Svetlana Abrosimova (1,713) is currently ranked No. 5 in UConn's all-time career scoring list- 420 points behind No. 4 Rebecca Lobo (2,133). Shea Ralph (1,462) entered the top 10 passing Peggy Walsh (1,413 points) a few games back at No. 9. Cathy Bochain holds the No. 8 spot with 1,534 points.
HERE IS THE ALL-TIME TOP TEN SCORERS UP-TO-DATE:
1. Nykesha Sales 2,178 2. Kerry Bascom 2,177 3. Kara Wolters 2,141 4. Rebecca Lobo 2,133 5. Svetlana Abrosimova 1,713 6. Wendy Davis 1,552 7. Jennifer Rizzotti 1,540 8. Cathy Bochain 1,534 9. Shea Ralph 1,46210. Peggy Walsh 1,413
UCONN IN THE BIG EAST
As a team, UConn paces the BIG EAST in six different categories and is in the top five in every other one. The Huskies lead the league in scoring offense (93.3 ppg), scoring margin (+37.6), field goal percentage (.539), 3-pt. field goal percentage defense (.183), assists (24.0 apg) and steals (17.29 spg). Individually, UConn's Svetlana Abrosimova leads the league in field goal percentage (.692) and assists/turnover ratio (5.83). No other Huskies ranks higher than fifth position in any category except Swin Cash who is fourth in field goal percentage (.603). Williams would be at the top of this list with a .744 clip, but does not have the minimum field goals made per game (5).
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 moved 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.
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.
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).
INJURY UPDATE
Senior center Kelly Schumacher (stress fracture in her right foot) is listed as day-to-day. Freshman forward Ashley Battle tore the UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) in her left elbow versus Miami. She had surgery on Friday, Dec. 8, to repair the ligament. She will be sidelined for 8-10 weeks.
