Spring Break
Flexing their muscles
Women's basketball dominates SRP in last exhibition game
Brittany Perotti
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
Auriemma credited Maya Moore with the turnaround in the second half.
Fighting off Johnell Burts, Moore dribbled behind her back, then dished it to Montgomery for an easy layup. Minutes later, she made a running save, throwing the ball around her back and into Kalana Greene, who threw it down court to Charles for another easy layup.
The crowd was on its feet. So was the UConn bench.
"I think that's what makes her unique, in that the stretches she had in the second half had nothing to do with how many points she scored," Auriemma said. "And yet, she was the dominant player on the floor.
"I think sometimes players that can score that easily and are used to scoring points that easily will just kind of rely on that and say 'that's just my thing'. But with Maya, it's so much more than that and I think that's what separates her from all the other really good players in America."
Aside from working on getting the energy up, Wednesday night was another chance for Auriemma to rotate his lineups, trying to find the right pieces for an effective all-around game.
At one point in the first half, he had Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes and Lorin Dixon all in. It seemed to be a tryout, a chance to see which guard should gain that coveted starting spot when the regular season starts Sunday.
Auriemma said that the team had not had that many ball handlers on the court at the same time in a while.
And by the end of the night, six players - Hayes, Doty, Montgomery, Charles, Moore, and Greene - were in double digits for points. Charles tacked on 11 rebounds.
It was the end of their exhibition run. And they could not be more ready for it to be done.
"I think we're really anxious and biting our fingers and everything, just wanting to start on Sunday," Charles said. "We just can't wait."
Brittany.Perotti@UConn.edu
Fighting off Johnell Burts, Moore dribbled behind her back, then dished it to Montgomery for an easy layup. Minutes later, she made a running save, throwing the ball around her back and into Kalana Greene, who threw it down court to Charles for another easy layup.
The crowd was on its feet. So was the UConn bench.
"I think that's what makes her unique, in that the stretches she had in the second half had nothing to do with how many points she scored," Auriemma said. "And yet, she was the dominant player on the floor.
"I think sometimes players that can score that easily and are used to scoring points that easily will just kind of rely on that and say 'that's just my thing'. But with Maya, it's so much more than that and I think that's what separates her from all the other really good players in America."
Aside from working on getting the energy up, Wednesday night was another chance for Auriemma to rotate his lineups, trying to find the right pieces for an effective all-around game.
At one point in the first half, he had Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes and Lorin Dixon all in. It seemed to be a tryout, a chance to see which guard should gain that coveted starting spot when the regular season starts Sunday.
Auriemma said that the team had not had that many ball handlers on the court at the same time in a while.
And by the end of the night, six players - Hayes, Doty, Montgomery, Charles, Moore, and Greene - were in double digits for points. Charles tacked on 11 rebounds.
It was the end of their exhibition run. And they could not be more ready for it to be done.
"I think we're really anxious and biting our fingers and everything, just wanting to start on Sunday," Charles said. "We just can't wait."
Brittany.Perotti@UConn.edu
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