by Fred Conley
Can anybody say Connecticut sent a very loud and clear message to the rest of the teams in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament last Saturday when they beat...no, make that pounded...no, let's make that crushed Long Island University 101-29 in the tournament's first round.
Connecticut obviously wants to defend last year's national title and against LIU -- making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA field -- UConn's actions spoke much louder than their words ever could have.
LIU, after a bad start to the season, rebounded to win the Northeast Conference title to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
They were rewarded with the 16th-seed and the first-round matchup against UConn. Welcome to the big dance, ladies.
Top-ranked UConn entered the tournament without the services of All-Americans Svetlana Abrosimova and Shea Ralph. Some wondered who would step up to fill these two large holes.
The answer: everybody.
The 101-29 win over Long Island University in the East Regional first round game will go down as the best defensive effort in the history of the women's NCAA tournament.
The 29 points UConn allowed eclipsed Colorado's 78-34 win over Southwest Missouri State in 1995.
UConn's 72-point victory also tied the second-biggest margin in tournament history. Tennessee beat North Carolina A&T 111-37 in 1994.
Six Huskies scored in double figures and all 11 players had points.
Tamika Williams was 6-of-6 from the floor and finished with 12 points. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi combined for 25 points and 12 assists for UConn, 29-2.
It was a rough NCAA tournament debut for the Blackbirds (16-15), who suffered the worst loss in school history. No opponent had ever scored more than 92 points against them. They shot 15 percent from the floor, hitting 10-of-65 attempts, and as a team, committed 19 turnovers.
First-year LIU Coach Tony Bozzella hit the nail on the head when he said after the game that his Lady Blackbirds "had stage fright, and were a little shell-shocked."
Not only did LIU not shoot the ball well, at times they were scared to shoot the ball.
As badly as LIU wanted to prove they were supposed to be in the tournament, the game was over quickly.
LIU simply couldn't match up with UConn's size, speed and depth and missed their first 10 shots.
The second half was more of the same. UConn began with 19-0 run. LIU missed its first 14 shots.
The Blackbirds had never played before a crowd larger than 620. There were 10,000-plus UConn fans in the seats.
LIU's Kim MacMillan had 15 of her team's 29 points.
Kelly Schumacher had five of Connecticut's 12 blocked shots.
Other stats show the Huskies out-rebounded LIU 57-31 and outscored the Blackbirds 54-4 in the paint.
The stats also show that former Palestine-Wheatley High School standout athlete Mandy Myers probably would have preferred to end her first basketball season on a much better note.
Myers, recruited by LIU to play fast-pitch softball, joined the basketball team this year for the first time since being at the school.
Most of the year, Myers has come off the bench and contributed valuable minutes for the Blackbirds.
Against UConn, Myers played nine minutes. She grabbed four rebounds and committed two turnovers.
She took one shot from the floor and missed that.
But on the positive side, Myers can say she played in the NCAA Tournament in two different sports -- softball and basketball.
Just days after the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots won the Class AA state championship, speculation began to surface as to whether or not long-time head coach Beverly Bass would return next season.
The bottom line is that Bass will hang through one more year, for her daughter Nikki's senior season.
"I've got one year left and then I've got to let it go," Bass said after the championship game at Pine Bluff. "I have arthritis in my knees and my blood pressure isn't where it should be but I have to go one more year for Nikki, especially since it is her senior year."
The small print in this statement might read "provided Nikki comes back for her senior year."
There is nothing to indicate anything to the contrary, so expect both Beverly and Nikki back on the floor next season -- for the final time.