UConn Crushed by Boise State

By Bob Phillips

No. 19/20 ran roughshod over UConn, delivering a 62-7 defeat to the
Huskies on Saturday night.

BOISE, Idaho – For the second straight week, the University of Connecticut Huskies were paired against a Top 25 team, and for the second straight week, the Huskies had their butts handed to them. Last week, UConn was trounced by No. 21 UCF, 56-7, at Pratt & Whitney Field at Rentschler Field. Last night—seemingly in the middle of the night—it was No. 19/20 Boise State’s turn to lay the pain on the Huskies, as the No. 19/20 Broncos crushed Connecticut, 62-7, before 34,515 fans at Albertsons Stadium.

How bad was this one? Try these on for size:

• Boise State scored on its first possession (albeit a field goal) and led 24-0 after the first period.

• By intermission, the Broncos’ lead had grown to 41-0.

• The Boise State offense reached paydirt five times in the first half, during which the Broncos accumulated 514 offensive yards. The Huskies were scoreless, and had gained just 78 yards.

In retrospect, maybe not such a good idea.

Boise’s dominance continued into the second half, as the Broncos outscored the Huskies 21-7 after intermission. For the game, Boise State generated 818 yards of total offense—a school record--, compared to 193 by the Huskies. The game was televised nationally by ESPNU, but the vast majority of sets most certainly had been turned off by them—certainly those outside of Idaho.

It don’t get much worse than that, folks. In fact, it was the Huskies’ worse loss since they dropped a 66-10 decision to Middle Tennessee State—the year Connecticut began its transition from FCS (formerly known as Division 1-A) to FBS.

"I think Boise State is a little better and a little bit ahead of Central Florida right now," UConn head coach Randy Edsall told the Idaho Statesman, smarting from two overwhelming losses to start the season. "Defensively, I think Boise State is outstanding."

The Huskies’ lone score came on their second drive of the second half—a seven-play, 93-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Pindell to Aaron McLean. After the Huskies’ paltry 1-for-8 on third down in the first half, Pindell linked up with Tyler Davis to move the chains and Kevin Mensah set up the Huskies in the red zone with a 55-yard scamper.

For the game, Mensah finished with 82 rushing yards on 10 carries. Defensive back Tyler Coyle registered a career-high 14 tackles—an unsurprising statistic given the Broncos total offensive dominance.

The Huskies now head home for a match-up vs. the University of Rhode Island Rams on Saturday at P&W. Rhody, former rivals of Connecticut in the old Yankee Conference, is an FCS team playing in the Colonial Athletic Association (the former Atlantic-10). Indeed, the Huskies would be well advised to consider downgrading to FCS status and applying for entrance into the CAA for a wide variety of reasons including natural rivalries (with URI, Villanova, Maine and New Hampshire in particular), as well as overall competitive balance.

Kickoff is slated for 12:07 p.m., and the game will be televised on SNY.

—with staff reports

Team USA Breaks Camp, Heads To Bridgeport

Atlanta Dream star Elizabeth Williams has been added to the Team USA
roster and will play in Bridgeport on Saturday night.

Columbia, SC—Following its three-day camp in Columbia, South Carolina, which culminated with an entertaining intra-squad exhibition game on Sept. 5, 14 athletes will continue on to USA Basketball’s next training camp in the hopes of claiming a spot on the 2018 USA World Cup Team.

Additionally, the roster further will be bolstered by the addition of Elizabeth Williams, who helped the Atlanta Dream advance to the 2018 WNBA semifinals. 

Team USA will train at the New York Knicks practice facility in Tarrytown, NY, on Friday at 10 a.m., before taking on Canada in an exhibition contest on at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on NBA-TV.

Two-time defending World Cup gold medalists, the USA is preparing for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, which will be played Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain.

Headlining the list of superstars on the roster is Tina Charles (New York Liberty), a two-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist; as well as Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks) and Odyssey Sims (Los Angeles Sparks), who joined Charles on the 2014 gold medal winning USA World Cup Team. 

Including Williams, the remaining 12 finalists for the USA World Cup Team who will compete against Canada are: Layshia Clarendon (Connecticut Sun), Napheesa Collier (University of Connecticut), Diamond DeShields (Chicago Sky), Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings), Sabrina Ionescu (University of Oregon), Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever), Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana Fever), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun) and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).

“We’re excited about the 14 that made it past the Columbia round and that we’ll add in Elizabeth Williams to the mix in New York,” said USA and University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. “But, each round what we’re looking forward to is continuing to bond, to execute what we want to do on both sides of the ball and to keep getting better every day. Every day. We have an Olympian, World Cup gold medalists, WNBA All-Stars, and we’ve got some players who haven’t played at the USA National Team level. So, I’m looking forward to continuing to mesh everybody that we have on the roster as we move forward in this process of getting ready for the World Cup.”

The team will face Japan in its final domestic exhibition game on Sept. 10 (7 p.m. EDT) at the Charles E. Smith Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After a day off, the team will have one final practice on Sept. 12 (10 a.m. EDT) at the Smith Center before departing for Europe.

Members of the USA National Team pool who advanced to the 2018 WNBA semifinals were not available for the beginning of the camp, but may be added at a later date. Those athletes include: Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury).

Prior to arriving in Tenerife, Canary Islands, for the World Cup, the USA will play in a four-team, international tournament in Antibes, France, Sept. 15-17, against Canada, France and Senegal.

The final 12-member 2018 USA World Cup Team will be selected by the USA Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee prior to the start of the World Cup.

Staley will be the USA National Team head coach through 2020. Assisting Staley through the World Cup are Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm), whose Seattle Storm advanced to the WNBA Finals and will join the team upon the conclusion of the Storm’s season, Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington University).

As was the case over the past three quadrenniums, the 2018-20 USA National Team roster will be fluid. It is expected that the official, 12-member 2018 USA World Cup and 2020 U.S. Olympic teams, should the USA qualify to compete in Tokyo, will be comprised of players from the 2018-20 USA National Team.

USA Basketball Women’s National Team director Carol Callan chairs the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, which includes three-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist Katie Smith as the athlete representative; representing the WNBA is Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller and Los Angeles Sparks general manager Penny Toler; and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who coached USA teams to gold medals at the past two Olympics and FIBA World Cups, serves as a special advisor.  

USA Basketball Women’s National Team

Members of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will compete in the 2018 FIBA World Cup and, assuming Team USA qualifies, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, to be played July 24-Aug. 9 2020, as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.

The U.S. and Staley first will look to capture the title at the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup of Basketball, with an automatic berth to the 2020 Olympic Games being awarded to the gold medalist. Should the U.S. not finish with the gold medal in 2018, it would have two additional opportunities to qualify for the Olympics: the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup (dates and site TBD) and the 2020 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).

FIBA World Cup of Basketball
 

Winners of back-to-back World Cup titles and four of the past five FIBA World Cups, the USA owns a record nine gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals in FIBA World Cup play, while compiling an all-time 103-21 record at the event. In 2014, the most recent World Cup, the U.S. took the gold medal, while Spain captured silver and Australia won bronze. 

The USA will compete in preliminary round Group D and will play Senegal on Sept. 22, China on Sept. 23 and Latvia on Sept. 25.

Group A includes Canada, France, Greece and South Korea; Group B is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Nigeria and Turkey; while Group C features Belgium, Japan, Puerto Rico and Spain.

Following the preliminary round, teams will be seeded, and the top team from each group will earn an automatic berth to the quarterfinals, while the No. 2 and No. 3 teams from each group will advance to the Sept. 26 quarterfinals play-in round. From there, winners will compete in the Sept. 28-30 medal round.

—Staff Reports

Tina Charles: A Leader On and Off the Court

By Gary R. Blockus

Tina Charles, one of the top players in women's basketball, is not happy
with just her on-court accomplishments. Rather, she is driven to be
equally important with her off-court deeds.

Columbia, SC—In March 2011, Tina Charles was preparing for her second season in the WNBA, a season in which she would make her first All-Star Game after being the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 by the Connecticut Sun. It was around the same time that Wes Leonard, a prep basketball player from Michigan, collapsed and died from cardiac arrest in a gym that wasn’t equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) that could have saved his life.

Like much of the country, Charles was affected by the story.

Already a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Connecticut, the 2009 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year and the 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Charles was well on her way to becoming one of the most dominant players in the game. All the while, she has made it her mission to give back in any way she could, both on her own and through her Hopey’s Heart Foundation, to help make sure Leonard’s tragedy is never repeated.

On Sept. 6, she is being honored for her activism as the female winner of the 2018 Mannie Jackson – Basketball’s Human Spirit Award from the Naismith Hall of Fame.

“My goal is to be a servant unto others,” Charles said from USA Basketball Women’s National Team camp in Columbia, SC, where she is trying to make her third USA Basketball World Cup team. 

“That’s what life is about. Being in the WNBA and playing basketball, I have the ability to make sure others see that way, to advocate for what they believe in.”

Charles’ activism has risen alongside her basketball career.

A five-time WNBA All-Star from Jamaica, Queens, Charles began her professional career with the Connecticut Sun but has been playing for her hometown New York Liberty since 2014.

Now 29, she already is the 2012 WNBA MVP and a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup gold medalist for USA Basketball. This week the 6-foot-4 center is taking part in the training camp that will select the team that will compete in the 2018 World Cup being held Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain, where she’s hoping to make it a hat trick of World Cup gold medals.

Her success on the court has done little to slow down her giving off the court.

In 2011, Charles donated $14,775 to the New York Department of Education and the Wes Leonard Heart Team to purchase AEDs for New York schools. Education is another passion subject for Charles, and in 2012, she teamed with OmniPeace and buildOn to build a new school in Mali, paying for the entire project, which cost about $32,000.

She began focusing entirely on the heart the following year, in 2013, when her aunt, Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, passed away due to multiple organ failure. Charles set up the Hopey’s Heart Foundation in her aunt’s name, providing AEDs to schools and organizations in the United States.

“I’ve been able to place 360 AEDs and have been donating my entire WNBA paycheck to the foundation since 2013,” Charles said.

Next she’s looking to expand the effort into all gymnasiums where EuroLeague and EuroCup teams practice and play.

How does she manage to make ends meet despite the donations?

“By the grace of God,” says the woman who earned USA Today, McDonald's, Parade Magazine, Gatorade and SI.com National High School Player of the Year awards in 2006.

Charles never quits, never slows down, and is one of the most exciting players to watch in all of basketball.

“I just think that when I’m playing, there may be someone there who has never seen me play before, or the New York Liberty before, and I just want to put on a good show, give the glory to God and be a reflection of him on the court and when I’m off the court,” she says.

And she likes to spread the credit around, as well.

“If someone were to tell me when I was at UConn, coming forward that my future would be what it is today, I wouldn’t believe it,” Charles said. “I’m thankful for all the coaches I’ve had, the players I’ve played with and against who have helped me prepare for those moments, those experiences.”

As she readies herself to make another national team and possibly win a third-straight World Cup gold medal, Charles said she feels no pressure.

“Pressure is someone asking you to do something you’re not cable of doing,” she explained. “I’m a confident player. I’m really blessed to be confident in my skills and the people around me.”

Gary R. Blockus is a freelance contributor to USAB.com on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.