{"id":56650,"date":"2012-03-16T17:27:25","date_gmt":"2012-03-16T21:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=56650"},"modified":"2012-03-18T19:53:27","modified_gmt":"2012-03-18T23:53:27","slug":"huskies-face-prairie-view-panthers-in-ncaa-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/03\/huskies-face-prairie-view-panthers-in-ncaa-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Huskies Face Prairie View Panthers in NCAA Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Head<\/a>
Head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma during the NCAA press conference on March 16 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opening the NCAA Tournament last year against Baylor and All-American Brittney Griner has provided some perspective for No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M (17-15), when it meets the No. 1 seeded Huskies (29-4) on Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn., in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game can be viewed on ESPN2, beginning between 1:30 and 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had home court advantage. We were more nervous and uptight,\u201d said junior Prairie View guard Latia Williams. \u201cWe weren\u2019t relaxed. We didn\u2019t come ready to play. This year I feel we\u2019re more comfortable. We have freshmen and it\u2019s their first time [in the tournament], but I tell them to relax and stay focused on coach\u2019s game plan and we should do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panthers hope their surge in the late part of the season, winning their last six games including three in the South West Athletic Conference, will give them some momentum in their fourth NCAA appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn is a very good team; everyone is human and has flaws in their game,\u201d said head coach Toyelle Wilson. \u201cMy job as a coach is to find what UConn doesn\u2019t do well and expose them. That\u2019s what coaches\u2019 jobs are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prairie View is led by Williams, who averages 14 points per game and 8.1 rebounds, and guard Kiara Etienne, who averages 13.2 points, 3 rebounds per game. With a roster of just eight players, everyone on the team sees action.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/a>
Members of the UConn women's basketball team stretch before their practice session at the Webster Bank Arena on Friday afternoon. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Head coach Geno Auriemma said it is not difficult to know what the Huskies must do to advance in the NCAA tournament. If senior Tiffany Hayes \u201912 (CLAS), who is expected to play despite a stress injury in her right foot, is struggling, it will be up to sophomore guard Bria Hartley \u201914 (CLAS) to score, junior Kelly Faris \u201913 (ED) to make plays, or Big East Rookie of the Year Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis \u201915 (CLAS) to score.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone with a five guard lineup a lot because that\u2019s our best five at times,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cBut if [center] Stefanie Dolson \u201914 (CLAS) is not playing well, there\u2019s not many places you can turn to get points. [Center] Kiah Stokes \u201915 (CLAS) can score points. She is capable of doing a lot. I would think how well Kiah Stokes plays is probably going to determine how well we\u2019re going to play in the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/a>
Kelly Faris '13 (ED) answers a question during the NCAA press conference at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet for both teams, the wait for play to begin has been a bit long, and the coaches and players are happy it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally it would have been great if we could have played a week ago on Saturday,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cIt would have been better for us. When you have a little bit of momentum going, you like to capitalize on it. Having to wait 10 days it\u2019s hard to sustain that. You have to really rely on the fact that it\u2019s the NCAA tournament. You almost treat it like a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faris said, \u201cWe\u2019re sitting around watching the guys play, starting to watch the women\u2019s teams. We\u2019re just all excited. We came off a good end to the tournament \u2013 it\u2019s always good to start the last part of your season on a good note. We\u2019re ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tiffany<\/a>
Tiffany Hayes '12 (CLAS) speaks with reporters during the press conference. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hayes, who began practicing again this week, said she is trying not to think about playing in her final NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad. I don\u2019t want to leave yet,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s [potentially] six games, so you\u2019ve got to take them one game at a time. If you don\u2019t win one, you cut it short and you go home. We just have to play our hardest, so we do get at least six more games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who played at Webster Bank Arena during her days competing for Manhattan, said she is telling her student-athletes to savor their time in the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve earned our way, just like the other 63 teams earned their spot in the tournament,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cWe don\u2019t have anything to lose. The big thing I\u2019m telling them is you have to cherish the experience. These are moments you\u2019re going to have for the rest of your life. There are some coaches and players who never get to the NCAA tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a 10-day wait, both coaches and players are eager to begin tournament play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":56644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-56650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 14:08:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56650"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56667,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56650\/revisions\/56667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/56644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56650"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=56650"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=56650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}