U! C! O! N! N!

I REALLY hate that cheer. I think part of my distaste is the fact that most of the people mindlessly shouting out letters couldn't spell "Connecticut". But what a game last night! Top ranked Connecticut took on third ranked North Carolina at UConn's Harry A Gampel Pavilion in lovely Storrs, CT. UConn started the game by allowing UNC to keep shooting until they scored. It was an odd choice by coach Geno Auriemma, but I was curious to see how his no rebounding strategy would pay off. Phenomenal outside shooting from guard Renee Montgomery and forward Maya Moore kept UConn within sniffing distance at the half, and Geno made the adjustment to the rebounding strategy in the second half.

Star center Tina Charles got the message, pulling down 19 boards and blocking 7 shots as UConn won going away. The highlight of the game for me personally was early in the second half. The Huskies were charging back forcing the Tar Heels to take a timeout to try to quell the run. The Husky fans, who to this point were most well known to me for chastising my father for talking during a game (true story, not this game) were on their feet and screaming. ESPN took the opportunity to take a 3 1/2 minute commercial break. By the end of the commercial, it was so quiet in Gampel you could almost hear the coaches shouting instructions at their players. But as the players made their way back onto the court the fans once again stood and began clapping and cheering on their players, nearly reclaiming the energy level from before the timeout. It was a level of maintained energy I just did not think possible for your typical crowd of grandmothers and high school girls.