The Daily Campus

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Renee Montogomery must refocus her team against Big East rival Seton Hall.

The No. 1 women's basketball team will return to New Jersey on Saturday to face conference opponent Seton Hall at the Walsh Gymnasium at 2 p.m. (CPTV) Aside from the opponent, the difference between this trip and the one to No. 7 Rutgers on Tuesday is the '1' the Huskies now sport in the loss column.

Heading into the final stretch before the Big East tournament, the Huskies have to make a decision - one of whether they would dwell on the small blemish on their record or move on and focus on the remaining eight games of the season.

Seton Hall might be hoping they choose the former.

UConn (21-1, 8-1 Big East) has not lost a game to Seton Hall since 1994, when the Huskies dropped a 74-53 away game to the Pirates. Since that time, UConn has won 23 straight match-ups.

The Pirates (13-8, 3-6) come into Saturday's game after a 64-44 loss to No. 15 Pittsburgh, one in which the team shot 36.4 percent from the field goal range and had 21 turnovers.

But with the recent struggles that the team has faced, an uncharacteristically sloppy game in a win over Providence Saturday and a shocking loss to the Scarlet Knights in New Jersey on Tuesday, the Huskies cannot count the Pirates, who have lost three straight heading into Saturday's game, out.

"It goes both ways," said Tina Charles, who did not have too many opportunities to score in the loss Tuesday night. "If they feel like I'm not posting up hard enough, then I have to keep posting up hard enough, I just have to call for the ball more. It's early in the season and it's just things to work on."

Though Renee Montgomery has been successful this season, her 24 points against Rutgers was not enough to bail the team out. The UConn bench, which had been a major factor in the team's success, combined for 23 points in the loss, and the defense was not where it was earlier in the season, according to Charles and head coach Geno Auriemma.

"[Brittany Hunter's] a factor a little bit defensively, and Charde to a certain extent," Auriemma said. "Whatever minutes they get, you're getting a little bit better defensively. I don't think in general we've been as good. And that's an area that I think we have to be much better at going forward."

Continued...

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