Big Monday Recap: UConn vs UNC

It's been almost a week since these two stalwarts played. But it took that long for me to recover from watching it.

Marked off on my calendar as one of the most important games on UConn's schedule (second only maybe to the home and home series vs Rutgers), this game lived up to all the hype. It reminded fans that March isn't the only time college basketball is fun.

#1 vs #3 is certainly a game with a feasible chance of an upset and in the first half it certainly looked as if that's exactly what would happen. UNC came out of the gate strong with an 8-0 run that quieted down a capacity crowd in Hartford.

It took nearly 5 minutes for UConn to get a rebound by which NC had 7 and 2 second chance shots. Charde Houston, after starting just her 5Th game this season, had been relegated to the bench because of lack of effort. She was once again in Geno's proverbial dog house. Tina Charles remained on the court mostly because without aching Brittany Hunter there was a lack of depth at the post position.

All this resulted in an 11 point galf time lead for the Tar Heels. A lead that could have been substantially bigger if it were not for the hot shooting of Renee Montgomery who was 4/6 from behind the arc.

The second half started with the run that you knew the #1 team in the country was bound to make. The run was 15-3 and it gave the Huskies their first lead of the night.

It was any body's game from there and both teams knew it. The Huskies built a 65-59 lead before the Tar Heels rattled off 10 straight. But UConn wasn't finished yet and they responded with a 9-0 run to give themselves a 74-69 lead. Latoya Pringle would cut the deficit to 3 at the 3:27 mark but that would be the last basket UNC scored.

During the second half Charde Houston redeemed herself scoring a season high 15 points. A performance that everyone involved with UConn hopes is the start of her season turning around. Sh ewent on to say that it was Having Mel Thomas (who is out for the season with a torn acl) sitting behind the bench yelling at her to play to her potential inspired her to that performance.

The Huskies ended the game on a a barrage of free throws. The ladies of Uconn seemed determined to come out victorious in the first real test since losing Thomas to her injuries. Thomas is the second starter to go down this season so UConn's depth is not what it used to be.

It was a hard fought game that truly had a final four feeling to it. Two Teams. Two Hall of Fame coaches. Two freshman point guards. Two All American post players. This was about as good a matchup as one could find at any point in the season.

Game Notes:
-The crowd of 10,167 marks the first women’s basketball sellout at Gampel Pavilion since Jan. 27, 2007 vs. Notre Dame.
-UConn senior Mel Thomas was honored prior to the game for scoring her 1,000th career point on Dec. 5 vs. Virginia.
-UConn improves to 177-9 when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team
-UConn junior Renee Montgomery became the 30th player in UConn history to register 1,000 career points

Click Here For Box Score

Next Up..Tennessee Vs Duke

JayD

Just When You Thought There Was Parity

From 1995- 2004 other than wins from Purdue and Notre Dame, the national championship resided in Knoxville(Tenn) or Storrs(CT). People started to wonder if the Huskies and Lady Vols would be dominant forever. Some even made note not to watch games.

Then, Diana graduated.

The following season you had Baylor win an improbable championship over Michigan State. The NCAA's encore, was to have Maryland and Duke play a beautiful game and eventually crown Maryland as the champs. Fans were happy (well except UConn and Tennessee fans). There was parity in the game now. You could tune in on the nights where women's basketball was on and never know who was gonna win until the final buzzer sounded.

Then Candace Parker took over.

She led the Lady Vols throughout the season. Proving them to be dominant. They ended the storybook run of a great and talented Rutgers team. Once again one of the Powerhouses emerged champion. Pat Summit aka Queen Pat (Long Live the Queen) had won lucky number 7.

Now its Maya Moore's turn.

The freshmen is looking to guide UConn in the same kind of season Tennessee had last year, and she has plenty of support including the last two Big East freshman of the year (Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles). The Huskies looked poised for greatness. Geno the Great (who already has 2 undefeated runs) has this team playing better defense than any UConn team before them. Their scoring margin is higher than that of the two undefeated teams and they are #1 in the country.

But Candace Parker isn't finished yet.

In what will most likely be her final season CP3 looks as dominating as ever. She is still the number one player in the country (although as read in my first blog, thats arguable). Her talent added to the experience she has just makes Candace Parker hungry to repeat. Despite a loss to Stanford early this season Tennessee is just as good if not better than they were a year ago.

So what's this mean?

I don't know. Although teams are much closer to UConn (I say this lightly because even Stanford lost pretty handily) and Tennesee than in past seasons when they were at thier peak, the difference is still pretty great. But then again anything can happen come on any given day. My guess though? One of these two teams will be champions this season and judging from the potential of their recruiting classes, parity is not as close as most might like it to be.

vs.

Jay D