University of Connecticut Athletics
No. 1 Huskies Set to Host Georgetown
12/31/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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THE GAME
The Connecticut Huskies (9-0), still ranked No. 1 in the country, face the Georgetown Hoyas in UConns second conference match-up of the year. The Hoyas are 8-3 overall, after defeating Hofstra, 86-63, on Saturday, and open conference play this evening against UConn.
THE SERIES
The Huskies hold a 29-6 edge over the Hoyas overall (28-6 since league inception in 1982-83), including a 15-2 mark at home. UConn has won the last 12 straight games and last 28 of 31 meetings. The last Georgetown win came in Gampel Pavilion in 1993, when the Hoyas defeated UConn, 64-62. UConn faced Georgetown only once last season beating the Hoyas, 87-48, in McDonough Arena.
STREAKS
Overall, the Tennessee game was UConn's 26th consecutive win (since 2/2/00), currently the longest unbeaten streak in Div. I women's basketball, and the 15th longest of all-time. The Huskies are currently riding a 14-game home winning streak (including HCC games, not including exhibition games) dating back to the Tennessee game last season (2/2/00). The Huskies have won their last nine games in Gampel (not exhib.) dating back to Feb. 2. 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. 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.
HAIL THE NEW YEAR
Head Coach Geno Auriemma is 11-4 in first games of a new year. Before his arrival in Storrs, CT, the Huskies had only started a New Year off on the right note on four of 11 occasions.
COMMON OPPONENTS
A look at common opponents shows both UConn and Georgetown have played George Washington. UConn was victorious against the Colonials. The Hoyas came up the short end during their match-up, 59-70.
OUR NATION'S CAPITOL
This is the second team from Washington, D.C., UConn has faced this season. The first, George Washington, was easily defeated, 90-63. Connecticut is 34-7 against teams located in our nation's capitol.
EASY TARGET
Since league inception prior to the 1982-83 season, Georgetown has been an easy target for UConn as the Huskies have defeated the Hoyas 28 times. This ranks as the second most wins against any BIG EAST team. Seton Hall is first with 33 losses to UConn.
FULL CIRCLE
Georgetown was the first BIG EAST team Auriemma ever faced (12/14/85). With a 67-63 win, Georgetown handed Auriemma his first- ever loss at UConn. 15 years later and he has only had 94 others.
WORKING OVERTIME
Perhaps the first game between Georgetown and UConn was an idicator of things to come. On 2/27/82, UConn defeated Georgetown, 78-73, in overtime. Connecticut has had to work overtime against Georgetown four times. No other team has faced off against UConn in an extra period on more than two occasions.
CENTURY CLUB
Georgetown is one of four teams UConn has scored 100-or-more points against during 3-or-more occasions. Syracuse (3), Pittsburgh (3) and Providence (3) are also part of the century club.
SCORING BATTLE
Georgetown's Katie Smrcka-Duffy and UConn's Svetlana Abrosimova both rank fifth on the all-time scoring lists for their respective teams. Through 117 games, Abrosimova has scored 1,733 points, while Smrcka-Duffy has produced 1,317 points through 100 games. Both lead their teams in scoring with Abrosimova averaging 15.0 points per outing, while Smrcka-Duffy nets 17.9 points a contest. Smrcka-Duffy is 22 points shy of moving up to fourth on Georgetown's scoring chart.
TALL ORDER
At 6-10, Suzy Bendegueis the tallest player UConn has faced this season. Christine Rigby is the tallest Husky at 6-6. Georgetown's Zekeesa Belton is the shortest player UConn has seen in 2000-2001 as she measures at 5-5. Marci Czel and Kennitra Johnson are the smallest UConn players at 5-7.
THE BIG 400
When UConn defeated Illinois, it was the 400th career win for UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. His record is currently 402-95 (.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.
WINNINGEST COACH
Entering the Georgetown game, head coach Geno Auriemma is currently the third winningest coach all-time by percentage. He boasts a winning percentage of .808 (402-95). Pat Summit, whose team is currently 11-1 after its loss to UConn, is second at .830 (739- 151) and the leader is Leon Barmore of LaTech (9-3 this season) with a current clip of .869 (529-80).
CPTV- ALMOST AUTOMATIC
Including the Wake Forest game, the Huskies post a 124-2 record when playing on CPTV. UConn's only two losses on the network have been at Rutgers in 1998 (74-70) and at Syracuse in 1996 (62-59). UConn's debut on CPTV came in 1993-94 when they picked up four games. The following season the network showed a total of 16 games en route to UConn's 35-0 season. The 1995-96 season produced 18 games, 1996-97 showed 22 games, 1997-98 included 18 games, 1998-99 had 20 games and last season the Huskies played 22 games on CPTV. The Wake Forest game will be UConn's seventh game on CPTV this season.
GAMPEL PAVILION
All-time, UConn is 161-15 in games played in Gampel Pavilion (not including exhib.). Entering the Georgetown game, in BIG EAST regular season games, the Huskies are 81-5. In non-league regular season games, UConn is 46-6. In BIG EAST Tournament games, UConn is 16-2, and in NCAA Tournament games, the Huskies are 18-2. Since the start of the 1993-94 season, UConn women's basketball is a stunning 116-3 overall at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
GAMPEL SELLOUTS
Dating back to December 31, 1997 (82-69 win over Rutgers), the Huskies have sold-out attendances of 10,027 for 39-straight contests (not exhib.), including two games so far this season. UConn's entire home schedule this season is an advanced sellout (nine Gampel games) bringing the streak to 46-straight sellouts by the end of the regular season. UConn will host the BIG EAST Tournament and possibly the first two rounds of the NCAAs.
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. UConns 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 12/26, the Huskies have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 139 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 27 consecutive weeks at the top; a school record for consecutive rankings.
WIRE-TO-WIRE-TO-WIRE?
UConns 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 years 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 Georgetown game, he is 402-95 (.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 STAY TOP DOGS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sue Bird had 15 points and made all four of her free throws in the final 35 seconds as No. 1 Connecticut held off No. 2 Tennessee 81-76 Saturday in a rematch of last season's NCAA title game.
The tussle of the two top teams in women's basketball lived up to its billing, as the Lady Vols rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half and were a 3-pointer away from drawing even in the last minute.
The major East Coast snowstorm was not enough to keep fans from this one -- the 16,294-seat Hartford Civic Center was nearly filled.
Shea Ralph, the Final Four MVP, also had 15 points and two key steals in a 19-2 first-half run that gave the Huskies (9-0) the cushion they would need. She had a team-high five rebounds.
Tamika Catchings led Tennessee (11-1) with 17 points. Her layup off an inbounds pass with 1:06 left cut the lead to 77-74. But she also was called for an illegal screen 30 seconds later, sending Bird to the line for her first time.
After Bird hit both, Kara Lawson scored on a coast-to-coast layup to keep the Lady Vols within 79-76. Bird converted her final two free throws with 19 seconds left on another Catchings' foul.
UConn leads the series, 7-5. They've met twice for national titles, and UConn won both, including last season's dominating 71-52 victory in Philadelphia.
Saturday's game looked as if it was heading in that direction, too.
The Huskies came out cold in the first half, missing eight of their first nine shots. The Lady Vols took advantage in the meantime, hitting four of eight and had a four-point lead four minutes into the period. That's when the Huskies' transition game took over.
Bird's 3-pointer with 15:33 left ignited a 19-2 run that made it 23- 10. Ralph had five points and two steals in that run. The Lady Vols had five turnovers in that same period.
UConn led by as much as 17 twice, but the Lady Vols rallied to within eight late in the period. Michelle Snow went to work inside and had six points in a 14-9 Tennessee run to close out the half trailing 44- 34.
Tennessee had 18 turnovers in the first half, but played more sure- handed in the final period and had just four turnovers. The Huskies had 11 of its 17 turnovers in the second half.
Tennessee outrebounded the Huskies 42-32. Semeka Randall led the Lady Vols with eight rebounds, getting six in the second half. She finished with 12 points and Lawson added 13.
Swin Cash had 14 points for UConn. Freshman Diana Taurasi, last year's high school player of the years finished with 12 points that included a key 3-pointer with five minutes left.
ANOTHER UCONN WIN? NO SVET
UConn defeated the No. 2 team in the nation without much help from UConn leading scorer and two-time All-American, Svetlana Abrosimova. Svet is suffering from back spasms and almost missed her first-ever collegiate game on Saturday versus the Lady Vols. As it is, Svet's 11 minutes played on Saturday were the fewest of her career. Abrosimova is listed as day-to-day and will be a game-time decision versus Georgetown.
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 69% 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 15 by Wake Forest (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 49 assists (5.4 apg), but is followed closely by forward Svetlana Abrosimova who has dished 40 assists (4.4 apg) so far. Abrosimova also boasts a conference best 5.00 A/TO ratio, with only eight turnovers on the season.
HOT TICKET
The 1,516 fans that packed the Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables was a sellout 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.
UNOFFICIAL ATTENDANCE LEADERS
As of Dec. 31, the Huskies are second in the nation in home attendance with a total of 68,936 fans in five home games. Tennessee is first with 71,483 fans and have played five games in Boling Arena. UConn is averaging 13,787 fans, with the remaining of UConn's games already advanced sellouts, while the Lady Vols report that they average 14,297 fans. UConn held 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, however, the Arizona State/Tennessee outdoor game at BankOne Ballpark drew 16,782 fans to give Arizona State an edge over the Huskies.
Leaders Home Total Att. Games Avg. Tennessee 71,483 5 14,297UConn 68,936 5 13,787Texas Tech 85,423 7 12,203Iowa State 66,117 6 11,020SW Miss St. 31,330 4 7,832
UCONN LEADS VOLS IN TRUE ATTENDANCE
The Tennessee Lady Vol turnstile numbers (actual fans in building) actually average 7,663 per game, however, overall attendance is reported from tickets 'sold'.
THE BENCH FACTOR
Overall, UConn's bench is outscoring opponent reserves by a 280- 159 margin. Williams leads UConn off the bench averaging 9.9 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 seasons BIG EAST Conference Tournament final against Rutgers. Thanks to a 13-point effort from Usha Gilmore, the Scarlet Knights bench edged UConns, 22-20. Most recently, UConn's bench outscored Wake Forest reserves, 51-16. The bench was one point shy of Wake Forest's total offensive output (52 points), and was led by Diana Taurasi's 13 points. Every player who saw action in the Wake game scored at least four points. Versus Tennessee, UConn had two bench players finish the game in double-figure scoring, and outscored the Lady Vols, 27-23.
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 UConns season opener versus No. 3 Georgia. She saved her best shooting performance for Washington, going 10-of-11 from the floor and pulling down six rebounds. She led the team in scoring in four UConn games, and has scored in double-figures in all eight contests, and she hasn't cooled off yet. Overall entering the Tennessee game, the forward is 52-of-77 (.675), from the floor.
IT'S NOT SVET'S TURN
Abrosimovas season turnover totals have dropped steadily since her freshman year, and six times in her career did she finish a game with no turnovers, including four times already this season- Georgia, George Washington, Holy Cross and Tennessee. So far on the season, Svet has only eight turnovers in 201 minutes of play. She is currently leading the BIG EAST in assist/turnover ratio with an astounding 5.00 assists per turnover.
STEADY FLOW OF CASH
Swin Cash had been UConns most consistent player on the boards until faltering in the last three games with only nine rebounds combined. Despite those low numbers, the junior forward still leads the team with 55 total rebounds (6.1 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 leading the team in blocks with 12 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 fifth in scoring for the Huskies averaging 9.7 ppg. She has already recorded a career-high of five assists versus Washington, and a career-high five steals versus Holy Cross. In just nine games, the forward/center has had 17 steals and 17 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 18-of-23 in the last seven games. The junior forward led the league last season with a .714 clip (115-161) and is currently shooting 35-of-46 in nine games (.761) to lead the team. Williams scored a season high 15 points versus Pepperdine.
KJ IS A-OK
After sitting out the first half against Wake Forest, Kennitra Johnson proved her worth scoring 12 points in just 13 minutes of play in the second half. She was 5-of-6 overall and perfect from behind the arc hitting her only 3-pt. attempt. She also added three assists, two steals and a block in her short stint of action. Wake was UConn's first game after exams, and it's obvious KJ breathes a sigh of relief once exams are finished. Last season, the Huskies hosted UCLA right after exams and KJ was 6-of-8 from the floor, including a perfect 5-of-5 from behind the three-point arc.
THE SCHUEY FITS
After sitting out six games due to a stress fracture in her right foot, Kelly Schumacher got her first taste of action in 240 game minutes against Wake Forest. The senior played 15 minutes contributing eight points on 2-of-3 shooting and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. The center, who set a NCAA record for blocks in a championship game with nine versus Tennessee in Philly, finished with only one block on the night. She saw only four minutes versus Tennessee.
BLOCK PARTY
In tribute to Schuey's return, the Huskies threw a block party swatting a season-high 10 shots versus Wake Forest. The 10 blocks were the most since UConn's 11-block performance in the 2000 championship game versus Tennessee. Six different players joined the fun led by Swin Cash who had three. Jones and Taurasi each had two. In sharp contrast, the Huskies combined for only two blocks on Saturday versus the Lady Vols.
ABROSIMOVA AND SHEA STILL CLIMBING
Entering the Georgetown game, Svetlana Abrosimova (1,733) is currently ranked No. 5 in UConns all-time career scoring list- 400 points behind No. 4 Rebecca Lobo (2,133). Shea Ralph (1,488) 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 UCONN ALL-TIME TOP TEN SCORERS UP-TO-DATE:
1. Nykesha Sales 2,1782. Kerry Bascom 2,1773. Kara Wolters 2,1414. Rebecca Lobo 2,1335. Svetlana Abrosimova 1,7336. Wendy Davis 1,5527. Jennifer Rizzotti 1,5408. Cathy Bochain 1,5349. Shea Ralph 1,48810. Peggy Walsh 1,413
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 UConns 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 womens basketball.
ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE HUSKIES
The University of Connecticut womens 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. Thats more television coverage received than any other womens 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 womens 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 womens basketball games for the 2000-2001 season as well.
UCONN BASKETBALL - AN ADVANCE SELLOUT
Connecticuts 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 Womens 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 Connecticuts 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. Johns, 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 Svetlana Abrosimova is suffering from back spasms and is a game-time decision versus Georgetown. 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. Freshman Morgan Valley is day-to-day after having arthroscopic surgery on her left knee to repair torn cartilage. Freshman Maria Conlon is battling mononucleosis and is out for two weeks.
