University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Look to Bounce Back Against No. 24 Villanova
2/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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THE GAME
The Connecticut Huskies (17-2) suffered just their second loss of the season in a fast-paced, 92-88, game versus No. 3 Tennessee on Thursday night in Knoxville, TN. The game was UConn's third loss in 56 contests. UConn looks to bounce back this afternoon with a win over No. 24 Villanova. The Wildcats earned their first national ranking since 1986-87 two weeks ago, when they entered the AP poll at No. 24. The 'Cats are looking for their third straight victory after defeating Boston College (71-56) and St. John's (63-52) in two league games.
THE SERIES
UConn holds a 21-15 edge in the all-time series. The Huskies have won the last 13 meetings and last 21 of 22 meetings. Under the direction of head coach Geno Auriemma, the Huskies are 21-9 against the Wildcats. The last time Villanova defeated the Huskies was in 1992-93, when the 'Cats won, 50-44, in Gampel Pavilion. UConn is 10-6 overall at home and 10-7 when playing at Villanova.
KEEP IT LOW
Villanova is one of five teams in the last eight seasons to have beaten UConn on the Huskies' home court and in that victory the Wildcats were the last team to have kept UConn under 50 points (44- 50, 1/27/93). However, no current players (except head coach Perretta) have ever beaten UConn. Eight other BIG EAST teams fall into that category.
HOME STREAKS STILL STANDING
The Syracuse game was UConn's 66th consecutive home regular season BIG EAST win (Gampel and Civic Center) since UConn lost to Georgetown on 2/27/94 (64-62) and 78th consecutive BIG EAST home win overall (including conference tournaments). The Huskies are currently riding a 18-game home winning streak (including HCC games, not including exhibition games) dating back to the Tennessee game of 1999-2000 (2/2/00). The Huskies have won their last 13 games in Gampel (not exhib.) dating back to February 2, 2000.
UNCHARTERED WATERS
UConn and Villanova have never met when both teams come into the game ranked and neither team has beaten the other when it was ranked. Twice UConn and Villanova have met when the Wildcats were ranked:
Date Rank Result2/24/82 #14 Villanova win 88-582/13/87 #20 Villanova win 74-57
A FOUL AFFAIR
Although the game plan at the end of the Tennessee game was to foul, this season UConn athletes have already fouled out over twice as many times than they did all of last season combined (10 in 2001, 4 in 2000). A look at UConn's fouls shows the Huskies have had a difficult time adjusting to the NCAA's point of emphasis this season of cleaning up "rough play". UConn has been whistled for 385 fouls in 19 games an average of 20.3 per contest, up from 17.1 a year ago. In both of UConn's losses this year the Huskies have recorded 30-or- more fouls. These were the only two times that Connecticut has done so this season.
DAY OF REST
This is Villanova's first Sunday game of the season. So far this year, UConn has cruised to victories on Sundays with three wins- two of which were over ranked opponents. UConn opened the year on Sunday, Nov. 12, with a 99-70 win over then third-ranked Georgia in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic. On December 10, the Huskies traveled to Champaign, IL and collected the 400th win of Geno Auriemma's career against the Illini, 97-55. Most recently, the Huskies knocked off La. Tech, 71-55 on Sun., Jan. 7. The Lady Techsters were ranked eighth at the time.
LUCKY 13
UConn's current win streak against Villanova, 13, makes the Wildcats one of seven of the league's 13 teams that the Huskies are currently enjoying a double-digit string of victories against. With a win this afternoon, only UConn's streak against Miami, 15, would be longer.
COMMON FOES
Outside the league, these two teams only have one foe incommon, George Washington. The Wildcats edged past the Colonials, 65-63, in Villanova, while the Huskied defeated GWU 90-63 in the Civic Center.
ELITE CLUB
Villanova is tied with Providence in terms of which BIG EAST team has the most wins against Connecticut since league inception in 1982-83. Both teams have defeated UConn on 13 occasions. However, the Wildcats hold the best winning percentage against UConn of any conference member as the series stands at 21-13, .382.
BACK-TO-BACK LOSSES
The last time UConn lost back-to-back games was during the 1992-93 season when the Huskies fell in three straight contests starting with a loss to Stanford (54-68, 2/20) then at Pittsburgh (74-76, 2/24) and finally to Georgetown at home (62-64, 2/27). It was Villanova who broke the Huskies out of the slump as UConn defeated the Wildcats 60-50 (3/1).
THE KEYSTONE STATE
It has been eight years since a team from Geno Auriemma's home state has beaten him (Villanova, 1/27/93) and the Wildcats are the team that has done it the most with 11 wins. The next closest is Pittsburgh who has done it six times. LaSalle is the Pa.- team that has the best record against Auriemma owning a 3-0 advantage over UConn during the Auriemma era.
LUCK 'O THE IRISH
Both teams' worst losses this season have come at the hands of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. On 12/6/00 Villanova opened the game by missing its first nine shots as the Irish went on to earn a 64-33 victory. Just over a month later, UConn got plenty of shots against Notre Dame's 2-3 zone, but was only able to manage 37 percent from the floor in a 92-76 loss.
BACKFIRE
In four of the last five contests between these two teams, UConn has been able to hold the Wildcats to under 50 points. In fact, the last time the two teams played in Connecticut, 12/2/97, Villanova only scored 27 points.
Lowest Point Production against UConn under Auriemma:
12/27/98 Quinnipiac 2012/9/95 Loyola (MD) 2212/2/97 Villanova 272/23/00 at West Virginia 28
CPTV- ALMOST AUTOMATIC
Through the Syracuse game, the Huskies post a 131-2 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.
GAMPEL PAVILION
All-time, UConn is 164-15 in games played in Gampel Pavilion (not including exhib.). Including the MIami game, in BIG EAST regular season games, the Huskies are 84-5. 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 119-3 overall at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
THE TENNESSEE CLUB
In the past five years, Tennessee is the only team in the country to have beaten UConn more than once. Connecticut is one of three teams (La. Tech and Georgia) to have defeated Tennessee multiple times. The only teams to have defeated both UConn and Tennessee in the last five seasons are La. Tech, Georgia and Old Dominion.
WIN-STREAK HALTED
UConn's winning streak of 30 straight games which dated back to February 2, 1999, was halted on Jan. 15 versus the Irish. The streak moved UConn past Miami (Fla.) for eighth on the all-time list. Two other Connecticut streaks also rank inside the top 10, a school best 35 straight from 1994-96 and 33 from 1996-97.
MORE STREAKS FALL
Notre Dame ended UConn's regular season BIG EAST winning streak at 28 dating back to a 78-66 loss to Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Jan. 23, 1999. Notre Dame also ended UConn's regular season game winning streak on the road at 19 dating back to 2/13/99 when they suffered an 82-77 loss at Old Dominion.
BIG EAST- BIG TIME
This is the first time in the history of women's basketball that the No 1 and No. 2 teams in the country are from BIG EAST schools. The only other time the BIG EAST was No. 1 and No. 2 during the regular season in any sport was in men's basketball when St. John's and Georgetown were No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, for five weeks during 1984-85 and then flip-flopped the sixth week. Also (AP polls), the BIG EAST is only the third conference to ever have two different teams hold the No. 1 spot in the same year, but it's the fifth time that it has happened. The SEC has done it three times (TN, Auburn- 1987- 88 and 1988-89, and TN, Vanderbilt- 1992-93), while the ACC has done it once as well (Virginia, Maryland- 1991-92). With UConn's loss to Tennessee on Thursday, this could be the last week for the BIG EAST tandem at the top.
TOP SPOT
According to AP polls, only twice before has someone other than Tennessee, La. Tech or Georgia been on top of the polls when the Huskies were ranked second. The last time was the second week of the 1998-99 season (poll was released on Nov. 16, 1998). That week the top team in the country was Purdue, while LaTech was third, Tennessee was fourth, and Georgia seventh. The next week, UConn would take over the first place position. This was due to the Boilermakers only loss of the 1998-99 season coming on Nov. 21, two days before the release of the next poll, to Stanford, 73-72. The Cardinal were unranked at the time. Stanford was the only other team that was No. 1 when UConn was No. 2. It was the sixth week of the 1996-97 season. Again, UConn would move into the top spot a week later when Old Dominion defeated the Cardinal, 83-66. Overall, only six different teams have held the No. 1 spot ahead of UConn at No. 2 (TN, Georgia, LaTech, Purdue, Stanford and now Notre Dame).
TEAM EFFORT
Despite not having a single individual ranked in the national statistics, as of Monday (1/29), UConn is ranked in the Top 10 in seven different team categories. The Huskies are No. 1 in scoring offense (89.1) and scoring margin (32.9), No. 2 in field goal percentage (51.0), No. 6 in scoring defense (55.7), No. 4 in rebound margin (9.7) and win-loss percentage (.944), and No. 6 in field goal percentage defense (35.3).
THE BIG 400
When UConn defeated Illinois, it was the 400th career win for UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. His record is currently 410-97 (.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 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 Tennessee game, head coach Geno Auriemma is currently the third winningest coach all-time by percentage. He boasts a winning percentage of .808 (410-97). Pat Summit, whose team is currently 22-1, is second at .860 (750-151) and the leader is Leon Barmore of LaTech (18-4 so far this season) with a current clip of .867 (539-82).
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).
HUSKIES HANDLE ELITE TEAMS
After the loss to Tennessee, the Huskies are 40-11 overall versus ranked opponents over the past five seasons and are now 21-11 versus Top 10 opponents in that span. All-time, UConn is now 57-29 versus ranked teams and 28-19 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).
A GOOD OMEN
Connecticut's victories over Louisiana Tech (Jan. 7) and Tennessee (Dec. 30) marked only the second time in as many seasons that the Huskies have beaten both teams in the same season. Prior to the Huskies doing it last year, the last team to beat both the Lady Techsters and Lady Vols in the same year was Purdue, in 1998-99. The Boilermakers went on to win the national championship as did the Huskies last year.
HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA
Head Coach Geno Auriemma is in his 16th season at the helm for the Huskies. Entering the Villanova game, he is 410- 97 (.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.
GIVING A HAND
The Husky offense, known for its scoring, is one of the most unselfish teams in the country. UConn's assist to basket ratio is an astounding 69.2%. The Huskies average 23.2 apg. UConn had its worst assist effort versus LaTech when the Huskies only helped out on 11 of 30 field goals, but bounced back against Syracuse assisting on 24 of 30 hoops. UConn dished a season-high 33 assists versus Georgetown to finish the game with 33 assists on 38 field goals (86.6%). UConn had 20 assists on 22 field goals in the first half alone (90.9%). Five different players have led the Huskies in assists in 19 games this season. UConn point guard Sue Bird is the team leader with 99 assists (5.2 apg), and is followed by forward Svetlana Abrosimova who has dished 78 assists (4.1 apg) so far. Abrosimova also boasts a 2.36 A/TO ratio, with only 33 turnovers on the season.
HOT TICKET
The UConn-Tennessee game drew 24,046 fans to Thompson- Boling Arena, a season-high for a women's basketball game and the fifth highest crowd ever at Boling Arena. UConn's game versus Pittsburgh drew the largest crowd ever for a women's game at the Fitzgerald Field House, as 3,418 people came to watch the game. The 11,418 fans that came out to the Joyce Center on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, was the first sellout crowd in the history of women's basketball at Notre Dame. 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 2,024 at Syracuse was a season-high and the tenth highest crowd number in Manley Field House history. 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.
THE BENCH FACTOR
Overall, UConn's bench is outscoring opponent reserves by a 663-350 margin. Williams leads UConn off the bench averaging 10.8 ppg. Only twice this season has the UConn bench been outscored, the first was during the December game against Miami (31-17) and the second was on Jan. 27 vs. Syracuse (28-26). UConn's bench outscored Georgetown reserves, 43-15 (one hoop shy of GU's total offensive output), and the entire Providence team with a 60-49 point effort. Most recently, UConn's bench dominated the Tennessee reserves outscoring them 47-14. However, UConn's 47 points was a combination of only two bench players, Tamika Williams and Diana Taurasi.
THE TAURASI FACTOR
Freshman sensation Diana Taurasi is quickly becoming UConn's most entertaining element on the floor. The guard is coming off a career-high 24 points against the No. 3 team in the nation on 9-of-16 shooting (6-of-9 from three-point) in only 27 minutes of play. The freshman averages 9.8 ppg (off the bench), 2.7 apg and 2.8 rpg. She is 33-of-78 (first in three- pointers made) from behind the arc this season (.423). She leads the reserves in turnovers, however, with 42 (2.3 topg) and leads the entire squad in fouls with 54 and games fouled out with three.
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 and has jumped back into the starting lineup. She scored a career-high 20 points versus Pittsburgh on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor and swatted four shots. She hadn't had a career-high performance since her nine blocked shots versus Tennessee in the 2000 NCAA title game. Schuey followed up the Pittsburgh game with a 10-point performance against Miami on 5-of-8 shooting. Only one other time in her career has Schuey posted back-to-back double-figure scoring: her freshman season versus MIami (10) and Maine (19). The double-figure scoring streak ended against Syracuse when she finished with only two points in 11 minutes, however, she dropped off even more versus Tennessee with no points in five minutes of action.
ANOTHER UCONN WIN? NO SVET!
The Huskies handed the Tennessee Lady Vols their first and only loss of the year without the support of two-time All- American Svetlana Abrosimova back in December, who injured her back over winter break. The forward scored only four points in a career-low 11 minutes. Abrosimova seemed to be improving physically, however, and finished her last game with a season-high 25 points to lead UConn and had 18 points in 25 minutes versus Tennessee before injuring her left foot. Her 1999-2000 season-high in scoring was also 25 points which she did on two occasions (1/2 vs. LaTech and 3/27 vs. LSU), and followed both up with double-digit scoring efforts in the very next game (10 pts. on 1/4 vs. Georgetown and 14 pts. on 3/31 vs. Penn State).
STEADY FLOW OF CASH
Swin Cash has been UConn's most explosive player on the boards. The junior forward leads the team with 137 total rebounds (7.2 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 had her ninth career double-double, third of the year, versus No. 8 LaTech with 14 rebounds and a game-high 19 points and is coming off her 10th career double-double (fourth of the season) with 15 pts. and 10 rebounds versus Syracuse. The starter is second in scoring averaging 12.6 ppg. She has reached double- figure scoring in 14 of UConn's 19 contests, including nine in a row, to lead the team. She led the team with eight rebounds and had 14 points during her homecoming at Pittsburgh.
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 averaging 9.1 ppg for UConn. She has already recorded a career-high of five assists versus Washington, and a career-high five steals versus Holy Cross. In just 19 games, the forward/center has had 20 steals and 32 assists. Last season she finished the year with 20 steals and 33 assists. She tied (Taurasi) for the team leader in scoring for the first time this season, with a 14 point effort versus Syracuse (1/9), making her the sixth different player to lead (or tie) the team in scoring. Jones was held scoreless for the first time this season versus the Lady Vols in one of her worst performances to date. She played a total of six minutes and fouled out of the contest. Only one other time in her career did she play less than six minutes which was freshman season versus Villanova (1/22) when she was action in only two minutes.
WILLIAMS ON THE MOVE
The junior forward led the league last season with a .714 clip (115-161) and is currently shooting 85-of-110 in 19 games (.773) to lead the team. Williams scored a season high 23 points versus Tennessee on 10-of-13 shooting in 33 minutes of play. She has been perfect from the floor in four games this season, including a 7-for-7 performance against Pepperdine.
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. The LaTech series was tied at two wins apiece until the Huskies defeated the Lady Techsters to go one game up.
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.
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.
ADD WILLIAMS TO LIST
With eight points versus Syracuse, Tamika Williams moves closer to the 19th spot on the top 20 scoring list with 907 career points. She knocked Renee Najarian ('87)-839- out of the top 20, and is 39 points shy of the 19th spot held by Paige Sauer ('00)- 947 points. Williams is the third current player whose name appears on the list. Svetlana Abrosimova (fifth) and Shea Ralph (ninth) are the other two.
ABROSIMOVA AND SHEA STILL CLIMBING
Entering the Villanova game, Svetlana Abrosimova (1,865) is currently ranked No. 5 in UConn's all-time career scoring list- 268 points behind No. 4 Rebecca Lobo (2,133). Shea Ralph (1,552) moved pass Jennifer Rizzotti at No. 7 (1,540) and is tied with Wendy Davis at No. 6 who also has 1,552 career 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 1,8656. Wendy Davis 1,5527. Shea Ralph 1,5528. Jennifer Rizzotti 1,5409. Cathy Bochain 1,53410. Peggy Walsh 1,413
LIFE BEFORE 1995
With a win versus Pittsburgh, the University of Connecticut won the 500th game in the history of the program giving the school a record of 500-258 (currently 502-258). The majority of the wins have come in the Geno Auriemma era, 410-96. The other 92 wins came under Jean Balthaser (52), Wanda Flora (38) and Sandra Hamm (2).
PHILLY AWARD
On Monday, Jan. 29, head coach Geno Auriemma will be honored at the Philadelphia Sports Writer's Association's 97th annual dinner for the 2000 Performance of the Year. He is accepting the honor on behalf of the 2000 National Championship team.
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.
UCONN AND THE ESPYS
The University of Connecticut 1999-2000 women's basketball team was nominated for an ESPY for College Team of the Year, while Shea Ralph earned a nomination for College Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Past ESPY winners include Rebecca Lobo as 1995 Female Athlete of the Year and 1995 College Women's Hoop Player of the Year. The 1995 undefeated National Championship Team (35-0) earned the College Team of the Year ESPY.
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.
BACK-TO-BACK LOSSES
With UConn's win over Old Dominion, the Huskies haven't suffered two consecutive losses since 1993, when UConn fell to Providence (87-73) in the BIG EAST semifinals and then suffered a 74-71 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
DOG DAYS AT UCONN
The night the UConn women suffered their first loss in 30 games, the UConn men also dropped a heartbreaker in Austin, TX. The No. 15 UConn men fell, 60-56, against Texas on Monday night, marking the first time since 1993 that both squads had lost on the same day. On March 7, 1993, the UConn men suffered a 70-56 loss at Georgetown, while the women fell in the semifinals of the BIG EAST, 87-73, versus Providence.
INJURY UPDATE
Senior Svetlana Abrosimova suffered a left foot sprain during the Tennessee game. She was x-rayed on Friday and results will not be available until Saturday morning. She is expected to be sidelined for the Villanova game. 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 was sidelined for 8-10 weeks, and has begun workouts with the team. Freshman Morgan Valley is back in action after having arthroscopic surgery on her left knee to repair torn cartilage. Freshman Maria Conlon battled mononucleosis for three weeks and has been cleared to play.
