Spring Break
Time to rock out with your pink out
Huskies to raise money for breast cancer against Pittsburgh
Mike Northup
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: Sports
Two red-hot Big East teams will be thinking pink when No. 1 UConn welcomes No. 19 Pittsburgh to Gampel Pavilion Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will be part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone, which promotes breast cancer awareness. This year's Pink Zone (formerly called Think Pink) carries special meaning with the recent passing of North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who died of breast cancer Jan. 24. The Kay Yow WBCA cancer fund, for which UConn coach Geno Auriemma is part of the board of directors, has been set up in her memory.
The Huskies (24-0, 10-0 Big East) are coming off their closest game in Big East play, a 77-64 road win against St. John's on Wednesday. The 13-point margin of victory was the closest any team has gotten since opening night, when the Huskies defeated Georgia Tech by an 11-point margin.
Pittsburgh (18-4, 8-2) enters the game with a seven-game winning streak and tied with Villanova for the third-best conference record behind the Huskies and Louisville (9-2). Most recently, they beat Rutgers 61-53 in overtime on the road.
The Panthers have the third-best overall winning percentage in the Big East (82 percent) behind Connecticut (100 percent) and Louisville (88 percent). When they have won, it's typically been by a wide margin. Coming into this week, the Panthers had the second-highest scoring margin in the NCAA, at 22.5 points per game as of Feb. 8.
Auriemma noted Monday that this is the part of the season where players can begin to press themselves a bit too hard in order to sustain the team's success.
Prior to Wednesday, center Tina Charles had been in a mini-slump, shooting just 3-for-13 over a two-game stretch against Rutgers and Marquette.
"We're playing some of the best basketball that we've played in some ways and you know, I think kids want to contribute, they want to feel part of it," Auriemma said. "You start trying real hard, trying real hard, and next thing you know, it's counterproductive."
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will be part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone, which promotes breast cancer awareness. This year's Pink Zone (formerly called Think Pink) carries special meaning with the recent passing of North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who died of breast cancer Jan. 24. The Kay Yow WBCA cancer fund, for which UConn coach Geno Auriemma is part of the board of directors, has been set up in her memory.
The Huskies (24-0, 10-0 Big East) are coming off their closest game in Big East play, a 77-64 road win against St. John's on Wednesday. The 13-point margin of victory was the closest any team has gotten since opening night, when the Huskies defeated Georgia Tech by an 11-point margin.
Pittsburgh (18-4, 8-2) enters the game with a seven-game winning streak and tied with Villanova for the third-best conference record behind the Huskies and Louisville (9-2). Most recently, they beat Rutgers 61-53 in overtime on the road.
The Panthers have the third-best overall winning percentage in the Big East (82 percent) behind Connecticut (100 percent) and Louisville (88 percent). When they have won, it's typically been by a wide margin. Coming into this week, the Panthers had the second-highest scoring margin in the NCAA, at 22.5 points per game as of Feb. 8.
Auriemma noted Monday that this is the part of the season where players can begin to press themselves a bit too hard in order to sustain the team's success.
Prior to Wednesday, center Tina Charles had been in a mini-slump, shooting just 3-for-13 over a two-game stretch against Rutgers and Marquette.
"We're playing some of the best basketball that we've played in some ways and you know, I think kids want to contribute, they want to feel part of it," Auriemma said. "You start trying real hard, trying real hard, and next thing you know, it's counterproductive."
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