Women's Basketball Ready to Host Holy Cross

TONIGHT'S GAME
The Connecticut Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the country, face the Holy Cross Crusaders in the 11th meeting between the two teams in the sport of women's basketball. UConn owns an 8-2 lead in the series and is 5-0 versus the Crusaders at home. The last time these two teams met was in 2000, when the Huskies defeated the Crusaders, 89- 51, in the Hart Center in Worcester, MA. The game was the first-ever sellout in the Hart Center for a women's basketball game. The Huskies were ranked No. 1 at the time of the game. The Huskies have won the last seven straight meetings by an average of 20.7 points per game. The Crusaders are a member of the Patriot League. UConn holds a 16-3 advantage versus the Patriot League, with only Army holding a winning record at 1-0 over the Huskies. Holy Cross handed UConn its other two losses.

HOME SWEET HOME
Tonight is the first 2000-2001 regular season game for the UConn women in Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies carry a 159-15 overall record into the friendly confines of Gampel. UConn is 44-6 versus non- league regular season foes, 81-5 versus BIG EAST regular season opponents, 16-2 in the BIG EAST Tournament and 18-2 in NCAA Tournament games at Gampel. The Huskies are also 30-1 in Gampel in the month of December.

ANOTHER SOLDOUT CROWD
Starting with the Rutgers game in Gampel on December 31, 1997, 38 consecutive UConn women's basketball games (regular season and postseason play) have been sold out during the past three seasons. UConn's 2000-2001 schedule features nine regular season home games in Gampel which are already advance sellouts bringing UConn's total to 47 straight sellouts in Gampel when the regular season winds down. UConn will most likely tack on to that number in the postseason when it hosts the BIG EAST Tournament and possible NCAA first and second round games.

STREAKS
The Huskies are currently riding a nine-game home winning streak (including HCC games, not including exhibition games) dating back to the Tennessee game last season (2/2/00). In Gampel, the Huskies have won their last eight games (not exhib.) dating back to Feb. 2. Overall, it was UConn's 22nd consecutive win (since 2/2) and 25th consective regular season BIG EAST win since the Huskies suffered a 78-66 loss to Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Jan. 23, 1999.

A TRUE PATRIOT
Of all the members of the Patriot League, Holy Cross has the most wins against UConn with two. However, in the 19 meetings between UConn and a school from the Patriot League the Huskies are averaging 76.8 points per game, while the Patriot League foes combine for 58.6. UConn's average win is by 24.8 points. Furthermore, UConn has never lost a home game to a Patriot League member.

HOLY CROSS FOES
The combined record of the teams Holy Cross has beaten (New Hampshire, Delaware State, American University and Fordham) is 7- 17. None of the opponents the Crusaders notched a victory against have a winning record. The most wins by any one of the quartet of teams is two.

THE CROSS-OVER
Now in his 16th season, Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons is not only familiar with the UConn women's team, he has also faced the men's squad. From 1981-1985 Gibbons was an assistant coach with the Holy Cross men's team. During that stretch the Crusaders split the four meetings with Dom Perno's Husky teams. All-time against the University of Connecticut as a coach Gibbons is 5-11.

THE LAST MEETING
UConn started the first half with a 12-0 run and the second half with a 14-0 run. Shea Ralph scored a team and personal season-high 27 points. Tamika Williams' nine points and 17 minutes were her highest totals since the Illinois game, prior to her foot surgery. The Crusaders were the first team during the 1999-2000 season to outscore the Husky bench (31-30).

TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD
The largest crowd ever to witness a women's basketball game in the history of the Holy Cross program gathered on 1/20/00 as UConn defeated the Crusaders in front of 4,000 fans, 89-51. It was the first sellout for a women's basketball game in school history. It was also the worst loss in school history.

NUTMEGGERS RULE
UConn has not lost a game to a non-league opponent from New England since 1987.

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 12/4, the Huskies have been nationally ranked in the Top 25 for 136 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 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).

HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA
Head Coach Geno Auriemma is in his 16th season at the helm for the Huskies. Entering the Miami game, he is 397-95 (.806) 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 OVER MIAMI
CORAL GABLES, FL (AP) - Junior Swin Cash matched a career-high with 20 points and added game highs of 12 rebounds and four blocked shots as she led the unbeaten and No. 1 nationally-ranked University of Connecticut women's basketball team to a 77-53 road win Tuesday at Miami in the BIG EAST Conference season opener for both schools. The victory for UConn was its 22nd in succession dating back to the mid-point of the 1999-2000 national championship season and improved UConn's overall record on the current year to 5-0. It was Connecticut's 25th consecutive BIG EAST Conference regular season win covering the past three seasons. UConn used a quick offensive spurt late in the first half to build a 20- point lead at intermission, 43-23, but the Huskies were only able to outsocre the Hurricanes by four, 34-30, in the final 20 minutes of play. Joining Cash with a "double-double" in the contest was UConn senior All-American Svetlana Abrosimova who scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds. Junior Asjha Jones was the third Husky in double figures with 12 points. Miami, which leveled off at 2-2 overall on the year, was led by Chanivia Broussard with 15 points. UConn shot 43.5% from the field in the contest but the Huskies were chilly from both three-point range (3-of-18=16.7%) and from the foul line (14-of-26=53.8%). Miami shot just 35.8% from the floor and the UM failed to convert any of seven three-point field goal tries.

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. UConn drew record crowds on the road in four different arenas in 1999-2000. TRAILBLAZERS During its last outing against Miami, UConn never trailed. This has happened on two other occasions this season, both of which were on the road. The Huskies have only trailed, albeit briefly, in contests that are home games.

THE BENCH FACTOR
For the first time this season, the UConn bench was outscored (31-17) during Tuesday night's 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.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Much of UConn's success can be attributed to the fact that four players are averaging double-digits in points. Svetlana Abrosimova is leading the team with 87 points and 26 assists per game. She has paced the Huskies in scoring in three of the last five contests. Abrosimova is shooting a solid 66 percent from the field (34-51) and 72 percent from the charity stripe (13-18).

THE CLAPPERS
A longtime tradition at UConn home games, Husky fans stand and clap until Connecticut score its first points of the first and second half. So far this season the Connecticut crowds have stood for a combined 3:54 seconds. The longest they've ever had to wait to be seated was 2:26, the shortest 14 seconds. Three times a UConn player has allowed their supporters to get settled in less than a minute into a half. On average the fans are standing for 58.5 seconds. At two claps per second the Husky faithful have clapped only 628 times to date.

SCORING FRENZY
This season, the largest majority of UConn's points have been scored as it gets comfortable on the court. From the 15-minute mark to the 10-minute mark in the first half, the Huskies have tallied 71 points of their 464 to-date. No other 5-minute stretch, other than the opening five of the game (which also matches 15 percent (70)), comes anywhere close to what the Huskies are able to do in this period of time. Combined, the first 10 minutes is where UConn picks up 30 percent of its points. There is only one other time during the game, where Connecticut is able to score 60-or-more points in a given 5- minute span - a span which is right after the half, until the 15-minute mark of the second (63 points).

EARLY RESULTS
Although a game lasts 40 minutes, all of UConn's games have been over early. Within the first five minutes UConn has gained control of the lead in all its contests and have not relinquished it. In the opening five minutes of play the Huskies have outscored opponents 107-56.

"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 five contests with a team leading 87 points. She is also topping the squad in steals (14) and assists (26). The chart below shows her combined average of the past three years with the shorter do' five games into a season along with where her averages stand at this point in 2000:

                Pts.    3Pt.    FT      Reb     A           Stl
2000            17.4    1.2     2.6     5.8     5.2         2.8
1997-99         15.6    0.9     3.2     7.0     3.4         2.4

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 five 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 five games of each season. Bold indicates which year leads.

                        1994-95    1999-00      2000-01
Points Scored           454          451        464
Points Allowed          255          310        303
Avg. Margin of Victory  39.8         28.2       32.2
FG                      169          164        179
FGA                     336          316        332
3FG                     29            23        26
3FGA                    61            60        73
FT                      87           100        80
FTA                     132          140        128
Rebounds                276          229        212
Assists                 102           98        119
Blocks                  39            24        28
Steals                  59            58        79

IT'S SVET'S TURN
Senior two-time All-American Svetlana Abrosimova has 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. Versus Pepperdine, her performance didn't miss a beat scoring a game-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and adding three assists, four rebounds and five steals. She saved her best shooting performance against Washington, going 10-of-11 from the floor and pulling down six rebounds. Abrosimova's season turnover totals have dropped steadily since her freshman year, and only four times in her career did she finish a game with no turnovers, including the Georgia and George Washington games during this season. So far on the season, Svet has only five turnovers in 128 minutes of play. She is currently leading the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (.667) and assist/turnover ratio (5.20 assists per turnover).

STEADY FLOW OF CASH
Swin Cash has been UConn's most consistent player on the boards. The junior forward leads the team with 41 total rebounds (8.2 rpg) after pulling down 10 versus Georgia, 12 on the West Coast, a team- high seven versus George Washington and a game-high 12 versus Miami. Cash opened the year with her seventh career double- double over then-No. 3 Georgia and had her second of the season versus Miami with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Cash, a starter at forward, is also averaging the third most minutes per game on the team (24.8 mpg).

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 11.4 ppg. Jones, usually a reserve player, stepped into the starting lineup when Schumacher was sidelined. Jones finished the Pepperdine game with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and scored six consecutive points in the opening of the second half to give the Huskies an offensive boost. Versus Washington, Jones tied with Taurasi for the second most Husky points, scoring 14 on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. The center also had a career-high five assists, and two blocks. She was an outstanding 5-of-8 from the floor against the Colonials, and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds versus Miami.

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, finished 5-of- 7 against Washington, was 4-of-4 versus George Washington and 2- of-3 versus Miami. The junior forward led the league last season with a .714 clip (115-161) and is currently shooting 23-of-30 in five games (.767) to lead the team. Williams scored a season high 15 points versus Pepperdine.

ABROSIMOVA AND SHEA STILL CLIMBING
Entering the MIami game, Svetlana Abrosimova (1,685) is currently ranked No. 5 in UConn's all-time career scoring list- 448 points behind No. 4 Rebecca Lobo (2,133). Shea Ralph (1,430) entered the top 10 this week passing Peggy Walsh (1,413 points) 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     1,685
6.      Wendy Davis             1,552
7.      Jennifer Rizzotti       1,540
8.      Cathy Bochain           1,534
9.      Shea Ralph              1,430
10.     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 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 has still not been cleared to practice after suffering a stress fracture in her right foot. She is listed as day-to-day. Freshman forward Ashley Battle sprained the UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) in her left elbow versus Miami. She is being scheduled for an MRI to determine the extent of her injury, which will then determine the timetable for her recovery.

University of Connecticut Athletics

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