University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Ready For Matchup With UC Santa Barbara
3/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HARTFORD, Conn. (March 26) – The second-seeded Connecticut women’s basketball team will take to its home court at the Hartford Civic Center against UC Santa Barbara in the East Regional of the 2004 NCAA Championship on Saturday afternoon. Game time is set for approximately 2:30 pm and will be televised on ESPN.
The Huskies are 27-4 on the season and handily defeated Auburn 79-53 in Second Round action in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday night. The 11th seed Santa Barbara holds a record of 27-6 and grabbed the upset on its home court with a 56-52 win over Houston on Monday night.
UConn enters Saturday’s game on a 14-game win streak in NCAA Tournament play and are in the quest for its third straight national championship. Connecticut is seeded No. 2 for only the second time in program history and is 5-1 in those games. The Huskies were the No. 2 seed during the 1998 NCAA Championship and fell in the Elite Eight to North Carolina State in Dayton.
UConn is making its 11th straight NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and its 12th overall holding a record of 10-1 in the Regional Semifinals and 7-1 in the Regional Finals.
Senior All-American Diana Taurasi continues to lead the Huskies scoring 15.6 points per game while bringing down 3.9 rebounds per game. She currently ranks in third place among the NCAA Tournament career scoring leaders with a total of 345 points in 19 games played. Taurasi enters the Regional one assist shy of tying current UConn career assist leader Jen Rizzotti who stands with 637.
For the second straight year, Taurasi claimed the Naismith Player of the Year Award given the nation’s top collegiate women’s basketball player. She became the fifth player to win the award in multiple seasons.
Also in double-figure scoring are Barbara Turner and Ann Strother. Turner is averaging 13.5 points per game while Strother tallies 11.4 points per game. Junior Jessica Moore continues to lead the team in rebounding taking down 6.9 boards per game.
For the first time in ten NCAA Women’s Basketball NCAA Championship appearance, the Gauchos advanced to a Regional Semifinal. UCSB became just the seventh team seeded 11th or lower to qualify for the Sweet 16 in the 21-year history of the championship. The Gauchos own a record of 7-9 overall in NCAA Championship play, reaching the Second Round five times.
UC Santa Barbara won its eighth straight conference tournament championship and cruised to a 17-1 record in the Big West regular season.
An alumnus of UC Santa Barbara, Mark French is in his 17th season at the helm of the Gauchos and 25th year as a head coach. He owns a record of 359-153 at UCSB and an overall mark of 457-268.
Senior Lindsay Taylor leads the Gauchos in scoring averaging 16.4 points per game. She also has a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game and has 66 blocked shots. Also scoring in double-figures is junior Kristen Mann at 13.7 points per game.
