Spring Break
Gardler Plays Well In 'Moral Loss'
Women's Basketball
Tim Ehrens
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Sports
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With UConn playing what Maya Moore called a "moral loss" for the team, it seemed like nobody was willing to stand out and distinguish themselves in the Huskies' 71-48 win over South Florida. The final score says that UConn won by a considerable margin, but the feeling in the XL Center was anything but jubilant.
It felt expected. It felt predictable. It felt routine.
The crowd's ho-hum mood reversed itself almost five minutes into the second half when Meghan Gardler came off the bench and gave her team 11 tenacious minutes in a performance head coach Geno Auriemma lauded.
"Meghan played well," Auriemma said. "She had more offensive rebounds [4] than four of our post players combined."
Auriemma was right. UConn's entire frontcourt, starting or not, grabbed only four offensive rebounds the entire game.
Gardler ended with six rebounds and three assists on the night. Her 11 minutes was the most she's played since playing the same amount at Syracuse on January 15, a game in which she picked up as many fouls, 2, as she did assists.
"I thought it was good for her," Moore said. "She showed that she can step up and hustle and go for loose balls."
Auriemma continued his praise of Gardler's rebounding skills and overall post presence in the game.
"That's how you get rebounds. You go after them instead of waiting for them to come to you," Auriemma said. "She has to hustle her brains out. She knows she's got to do everything right. And maybe she does that because she knows that maybe if she doesn't do that, she won't play."
Charles In Auriemma's Doghouse
It was a rough night to say the least for Tina Charles, as she sat on the bench for close to 15 minutes of the second half due to her poor play in the first half.
Even though she posted four blocks in the first five minutes of the game, she ended the first half with only four points and two rebounds in 12 minutes. She played only one minute in the second half and posted another four points to end with eight on the night.
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