Statistics only begin to describe the strength of coach Geno Auriemma’s unbeaten top-ranked Connecticut Huskies: UConn (12-0) has outscored its opponents 88.9 to 61.6.UConn has outshot opponents .526 to .355 from the floor and .452 to .273 from three-point range.The Huskies have outrebounded their 12 victims 43.7 to 35.2 per game and made almost twice as many assists, 20.9 assists to 11.8.Five different Huskies have led the team in scoring: 6-foot All American guard Shea Ralph five times; 6-2 All American forward Svetlana Ambrosimova three times; 5-9 point guard Sue Bird twice; and once each by 6-2 forwards Tamika Williams and and Swintayla Cash.
UConn has played one of the nation’s toughest schedules. It blitzed Seton Hall and Georgetown, 88-45 and 87-48, in Big East play. It knocked off six nationally ranked teams in non-conference play: No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 Louisiana Tech, No. 5 Penn State, No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 UCLA and No. 22 Old Dominion.
UConn’s 74-67 victory over Tennessee before a national TV audience and 23,385 fans in Knoxville last weekend impressed Wisconsin coach Jane Albright, former assistant to Pat Summitt, coach of the six-time NCAA champion Lady Vols.
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“I’m surprised any visiting team ever wins in Knoxville,” Albright said. “Obviously this means Geno’s team is the real deal. It may be better than his unbeaten [35-0] 1995 championship team that had Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters and Jeniffer Rizzotti.
UConn easily handled both Big Ten co-leaders, Illinois 100-79 and Penn State 87-74.
Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said the Huskies “are getting better, better, better. They have that great attitude that goes with winning and keeps them winning.”
“We fell behind 19-3 and then came within three,” Penn State coach Rene Portland said. “UConn never faltered. They looked at us and flicked us off their shoulder.”
Abrosimova, a junior from St. Petersburg, Russia, and sophomore Ralph shared high-point honors with 17 each against the Lady Lions. But Portland called point guard Bird “the difference-maker.”
“Our inside game killed UConn’s, though,” Portland said. “If they have a tiny, tiny tiny weakness, that may be it. But they have the mental toughness we all strive for.”
Local update: The won-lost records may not show it, but both Loyola (2-9) and DePaul (8-6) served notice in recent days that they could be heading for upswings.
Improvement is relative for the Ramblers who finished 3-22 last year, their fourth straight 20-loss season. Mary Helen Walker, Loyola’s fourth coach in the last five years, has the Ramblers playing closer games. Last year Loyola lost to Northwestern, Dayton and DePaul by 35, 24 and 29 points. This season,those spreads melted to 3, 10 and 17.
“Loyola showed relentless pursuit,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. “They were very aggressive and never stopped competing.”
Freshman guard Tracy Hoffman from Sandburg High epitomizes Loyola’s gritty play. But she isn’t satisfied with losing by fewer points.
“We were too timid at first,” Hoffman said, “but we’ve turned it up. I think we showed we can play with anybody. Our problem is we play hard for a 10-minute spurt. Then we get tired. We have to sustain it.”
DePaul update: DePaul fed off the energy provided by Bruno’s substitutes Sunday when the Blue Demons notched their first Conference USA victory, 84-61 over Louisville.
Molly Watson, Jamie Lewis, Agatha Mankiewicz and Shavaughne Desecki came off the bench together and provided a spark during the 17-0 run that broke open the game.
“We fed off their energy,” said defensive standout Sylvia Blakeslee, who held 18-point per game Louisville star Jill Morton to eight points. “Our strength is our numbers.”
“We’ve been playing well defensively and losing games in the 50s and 60s,” Bruno said. “We’ve got to get scores into the 80s. To do that we run and press and take chances and take advantage of our bench.”