UNCASVILLE - Back in October at the New York Athletic Club, the coaches of the American Athletic Con...

1. UConn Women Win Second Consecutive AAC Title - Hartford
Courant
UNCASVILLE - Back in October at the New York Athletic Club, the coaches of the American Athletic
Conference gathered on media day for pictures, conversation and cold cuts. Turns out, they were
visionaries because they saw more than just the autumnal grandeur of Central Park outside their
windows.
They predicted the future, laying out the way things were going to go in women's basketball this
season in the preseason poll - UConn would be No. 1, South Florida would be No. 2. They were spot
on.
That was also the day Bulls coach Jose Fernandez went King Arthur on anyone who would listen,
pulling a sword from his rhetorical belt by pledging his team would spend the year training to slay
the UConn dragon.
On Monday, in the first conference championship he'd ever coached at USF, Fernandez tried for the
third time to corral the beast, this time playing in one of its many state lairs. One week ago, the Bulls
came closer (23 points) than any team in AAC had all year of pulling off the upset.
Give the Bulls credit. They brought the Sun Dolls, the mascot and the pep band to Mohegan Sun
Arena. They brought swag instead of the usual sag the Huskies see when pressure is applied. And
then they pawed at the dirt and charged, refusing to take no for an answer even after falling behind
by 23 at the half.
But in the end, it was UConn that said no, defeating USF 84-70 to win a second straight AAC
Tournament title. Still, it was the smallest margin of victory for the Huskies this season.
"South Florida has the mentality that it's just not going to quit," Morgan Tuck said. "Sometimes
when teams get down a lot against us they quit. But USF has not done that."
The Huskies (32-1) have history and culture and they've mastered the intangibles. They also have
the players, more great ones than anyone else. And each of their hands played a small hand in
leading the two-time national champs to their 20th conference title.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, the tournament's most outstanding player, scored 23 points despite

2. making only one three-pointer. She added six rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes.
"She made herself hard to guard because she was scoring from all over the floor," coach Geno
Auriemma said. "And that's something we've been working on with her. She's become more than a
three-point shooter and she showed it tonight."
Mosqueda-Lewis was one of four Huskies who scored in double figures. In the first two games of the
tournament, games UConn won by a combined 109 points, the Huskies had 11 double-figure players.
"She's played so well and everyone has seen it," Breanna Stewart said. "The way she shot the ball
this weekend (63 points) was exceptional."
Stewart added 22 points and 12 rebounds in 40 minutes. Tuck contributed 17 points and 10
rebounds. and Moriah Jefferson chipped in 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and her usual quota
of deft ball skills.
"Our team has done a very good job of spreading out the points," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "Our team is
doing a very good job of getting contributions from a lot of people."
Stewart, Tuck and Jefferson made the tournament teams as did Courtney Williams and Alisia Jenkins
of South Florida.
The Bulls (26-7) were led by Shalethia Stringfield's 20 points. Tamara Taylor added 17. Williams, the
ACC first-teamer, added 16 points. But UConn slaughtered them off the boards, winning the battle,
47-20 (18-5 offensively).
"That was the difference," Fernandez said. "Connecticut did a great job on the glass."
South Florida was close for the first hundred yards, trailing 7-6 with 17:34 remaining in the first
half. At this point, albeit so early, they were dealing well with the UConn diversity and
aggressiveness. And when Tamara Taylor scored with 7:32 to play in the half, the Huskies lead was
only 26-16.
Then it all came apart for South Florida and coalesced for the Huskies. A three-point play by Stewart
was the spark for an 18-1 run that buried the Bulls over the next six minutes. UConn's points came
from virtually everywhere on the floor
Mosqueda-Lewis scored 13 points and Stewart had 10 as the Huskies shot 21-for-37 in the half. But
they also crushed the Bulls on the boards, perhaps the only aspect of last week's game in Tampa that
seemed deficient. That night, South Florida outrebounded the Huskies 38-33, basically controlling
the offensive glass.
But on Monday, the Huskies grabbed 26 of the game's first 36 rebounds and ended up outscoring
their opponent 20-3 on second-chance opportunities and 50-18 in the paint. It was just too much for
the Bulls to handle.
Even then, they did not relent, like so many teams in their conference have done at the first - and
most definitely the second - sign of trouble. They outscored the Huskies 18-12 in the first eight
minutes of the second half to stay within reach.
"I am just so proud of their efforts," Fernandez said. "In the past seven days, these basketball

3. players have proven they can compete."
But then a three-point play by the irrepressible Jefferson, who spent another day with the ball on her
personal yo-yo, rebuilt the 20-point lead on a three-point play with 12:10 to play that pushed her into
double figures in scoring.
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