The Clock Strikes 12

The Clock Strikes 12

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com March 7, 2006 BOX SCORE HARTFORD, Conn. – If only West Virginia could have traded its glass slipper for a few more jump shots. The No. 12-seeded Mountaineers put up a good fight, but in the end it was Connecticut taking home the trophy once again with a 50-44 victory in the Big East tournament championship game at the Hartford Civic Center Tuesday night. Connecticut's Ann Strother, left, pulls a rebound away from West Virginia's Yelena Leuchanka in the first half of the championship game in the 2006 Big East Women's Basketball Championship in Hartford, Conn., Tuesday, March 7, 2006. Looking on are Connecticut's Barbara Turner, second from left, and Willnett Crockett, fourth from left. AP photo/Bob Child It is Connecticut’s 13th Big East tournament title under Coach Geno Auriemma, who can now add a chapter to his new autobiography "Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection" about winning a championship by shooting bricks. His seventh-rated Huskies (29-4) made just 17 of 49 from the field for 34.7 percent and turned the ball over 19 times on its home floor against a scrappy West Virginia team. But it was the Mountaineers that were really off the mark, hitting only 15 of their 62 field-goal attempts for 24.1 percent. Perhaps playing four straight days had something to do with it, or the fact that injuries have forced WVU coach Mike Carey to use just two players off his bench. Connecticut’s great backcourt size advantage certainly didn't help either. But whatever the reason, West Virginia just couldn’t find the rim despite having many wide open shot attempts. WVU’s starting backcourt trio of Britney Davis-White, LaQuita Owens and Ashley Powell finished a combined 6 of 34 from the field, including 2 of 17 from 3-point distance. Powell tried only three shots and had just about any shot she wanted with Connecticut playing well off her the entire game. Despite West Virginia’s shooting difficulties, Carey got the game he wanted and still had his out-manned team in great position to pull off the upset. WVU had several chances to either tie the game or take the lead late but it just couldn’t get the ball to go through the net. "We did what we wanted to do, we wanted to hold them in the 50s," Carey said. "We held them to 50, we stayed on the boards with them, we got some offensive rebounds which we felt we had to do; we just didn't hit our shots." A key sequence in the game came with WVU trailing 43-41 with 2:08 remaining. A steal by center Olayinka Sanni gave the Mountaineers the ball with numbers in transition. A drive to the basketball by Davis-White was unsuccessful but Powell was able to pull down the offensive rebound. She got the ball over to Owens, who missed her shot attempt. Sanni was able to haul down a second offensive board and had another chance to tie the game, but her wild put-pack try was secured by Connecticut’s Barbara Turner. A second steal by Sanni gave WVU yet another crack at the Huskies. After a Carey timeout with 1:09 remaining to set up a play inside for Sanni, Connecticut came up with a turnover when Sanni couldn’t get a grip on the ball, and that resulted in a Willnett Crockett basket with 36 seconds left to put UConn up four, 45-41. A foul by Turner put Chakhia Cole at the line with 31 seconds left where she made 1 of 2. Her second shot was retrieved by Davis-White, who was fouled by Crockett while trying to attempt a follow up. Davis-White hit both free throws to pull the Mountaineers to within one, 45-44. With 24 seconds remaining, LaQuita Owens fouled Mel Thomas while trying to get the basketball and Thomas hit both shots to make it 47-44, UConn. Any hopes West Virginia had of either tying the game or winning it were eliminated the next two times down the floor. Powell was whistled for an offensive foul that led to a free throw for Ann Strother, and the next time down freshman Sarah Bucar’s pass at mid-court sailed over the head of Davis-White out of bounds with 18 seconds remaining. "We didn't do a good job of executing at the end of the game," Carey said. "But it wasn't from a lack of effort, it was just inexperience." After that all West Virginia could do was foul to stop the clock, and Thomas made two more to ice the game for the Huskies. "I think the game was pretty much indicative of what a lot of this season has been all about: nothing comes easy," said Auriemma. "You can't count on anything anymore; everything is a struggle." Connecticut scored the first eight points of the game and had its biggest lead of 13 at 16-3 before West Virginia began chipping away. The Huskies led 23-16 at halftime. Strother finished with a game-high 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting. She was also 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Renee Montgomery added 11 points while Barbara Turner pulled down 10 rebounds. The Mountaineers have lost all 17 games to Connecticut since joining the Big East in 1995 and have a 1-17 overall record against the Huskies. Davis-White led West Virginia with 12 points, followed by 10 each from Sanni and Yelena Leuchanka. All 10 of Leuchanka’s points came in the first half. Sanni also grabbed 11 rebounds for West Virginia, which finishes its season with a losing record (15-16) for the first time under Carey. The fifth-year coach will have all five starters returning for next season. Leuchanka and reserve center Jeriece Lee are the team’s only two seniors. "I can't believe there are 64 teams better than that team (West Virginia) in the NCAA tournament," Auriemma said. "I guess our league is really good if the last team in the league playing without their best player (Meg Bulger) can do that." Strother was named the tournament's MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Connecticut teammates Barbara Turner and Renee Montgomery. "The things you do as a program get you to this point. Then individual players decide the outcome of the games," said Auriemma. "I think in this case that's what happened. Ann stepped up and made some huge plays." Chakhia Cole and Britney Davis-White were selected to the all-tournament team from West Virginia. "We're a young team, we have two seniors and neither of them starts," Carey said. "This is something to build on. We feel now that we can play with some of the top teams. For us to improve as a team and a program, it has to start during the summer. "This tournament gave us a little pride to see that maybe we can get to the next level." Note: Fans are encouraged to greet the WVU women's team tomorrow at the WVU Coliseum Blue Gate to celebrate their great Big East tournament run. The Mountaineers are expected to arrive in Morgantown around 1 pm.