Spring Break
UConn seeded in unfamiliar territory
Meaghan Mackin
Issue date: 3/4/05 Section: Sports
|
Regardless, the Huskies are going to play the postseason like they have for the past two years, as the reigning champs. The Huskies are tied with Notre Dame in the No. 2 spot in the conference with an overall league record of 13-3. However, since the Fighting Irish finished the season with a record of 25-4, they clinched the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Huskies are sitting with the No. 3 seed after they finished with a season record of 20-7. This is the lowest the Huskies have been since 1992-93, when they were the third seed as well.
The Huskies finished their regular season with a win against West Virginia, 71-41, Tuesday. Ann Strother led the offense with 19 points and Jessica Moore added 11 rebounds and 11 points. Mel Thomas and Barbara Turner had nine points in the win. The Huskies allowed West Virginia to score only 16 points in the second half and forced 22 turnovers.
The Big East Tournament will be held at the Hartford Civic Center this season with Rutgers entering as the No. 1 seed. Rutgers went 14-2 in the conference and 23-5 in the season. Their losses came against UConn and Notre Dame. The Huskies beat Rutgers, 57-44, on Feb 3. The Huskies were able to hold off Rutgers press during the most of the game. They felt the heat with 15 turnovers, but were able to control the points scored from those turnovers. The Huskies were not able to limit their leading scorer, Matee Ajavon, who had 20 points.
The Huskies lost to No. 2 seed Notre Dame Jan. 30. The Huskies had 16 turnovers against the Irish during that game and the leading scorer for the Irish was Courtney LaVere with 23 points that night. Strother led the Huskies' effort with 25 points.
Going into the tournament, Strother is the team's leading scorer with 345 points on the season - good enough for a 12.8 points per game average. Freshman Charde Houston will play a vital part in the tournament as she has averaged 11.5 points per game. Houston also leads the team in steals and blocks with 39 and 45. Moore will be crucial on defense with an average of 5.9 rebounds per game.
The Huskies will play the winner of Georgetown/Syracuse in the quarterfinals Sunday at 8 p.m. The No. 6 Georgetown --No. 11 Syracuse game is going to be played Saturday at 8 p.m.