UCONN Women Win Regular Season Big East Championship

Tina Charles 9th double-double of the season led the UCONN Huskies past a pesky University of South Florida Bulls basketball team in Tampa on Tuesday night. Charles had a career high 34 points and 17 rebounds while Charde Houston chipped in with her own double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kalana Greene rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points. Nalini Miller had 18 points for the Bulls while Shantia Grace has 17 points. UCONN’s tough defense held USF star, Jessica Dixon, to 11 points on 5 of 16 shooting.

UCONN fell behind in the first half but a quick run got them back in front. They went into the break up 6 at 38-32. UCONN was never really threatened the rest of the way. South Florida couldn’t get closer than 9 the rest of the way.

Notes and observations:

  • The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
  • The win clinched their first Big East title in 3 years. It was their 14th overall and 11th outright.
  • The win also gives the Huskies a first round bye in the Big East Tournament.
  • Charles 9th double-double broke the freshman record of 8 double-doubles set by Rebecca Lobo.
  • Houston became the 28th Husky to score a 1,000 points in her career.
  • Montgomery was named one of the 11 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman trophy that goes annually to the top point guard in the country.
  • UCONN’s streak of 170 games with a 3 point shot made was in jeopardy until 3:23 left in the game when Thomas hit a 3 pointer.
  • Charles 34 point game was the first time a Husky went over 30 points in a game since Barbara Turner scored 31 against Georgia in the NCAA tournament last season.
  • Brittany Hunter returned to the lineup after missing 6 of the last 7 games. She only played 3 minutes.
  • Meghan Gardler also returned to the lineup after her hard fall to the floor. She received medical clearance to play this morning.
  • Ketia Swanier took a hard fall when she took a charge. She didn’t return to the game after that and looked as though she was favoring her left hip. She also scored 2 points, which amounted to all of UCONN’s bench scoring.
  • The crowd of 5,241 at USF was the largest ever for a women’s basketball game at South Florida.

It was the 11th consecutive victory for the Huskies. They move to 25-2 (14-0 in the Big East). They can run the table in the Big East with victories over Villanova and Rutgers. Up next will be the aforementioned Villanova Wildcats in the final home regular season game for the Huskies. The game is at 12:00 noon and will be played at the Hartford Civic Center. It will be televised locally on CPTV.

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Gonzaga Basketball Players Arrest Update

According to the AP, Gonzaga star basketball player, Josh Heytvelt, has been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. The police found just over an ounce of hallucinogenic mushrooms in his bag. Theo Davis, who was with Heytvelt, is being charged with misdemeanor possession of the reefer.

If Heytvelt is convicted, he could face 5 years of being someone’s bitch (Note to Josh: buy duct tape) and have to pay a $10,ooo fine. Odds are there will be some sort of plea deal. Since he is a first time drug offender, he would probably get 6 months or lesser. And from the sounds of it, Washington state has a similar program of accelerated rehabilitation that we have in Connecticut. A law many of our fine athletes at UCONN have taken advantage of.

To me it is going to be interesting to see how the university reacts. School officials have said that they won’t take any action until the legal system has run its course. Because this is a serious offense, I would think that Heytvelt’s playing days in Spokane are probably done.

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Brady Happy About Becoming A Dad

The AP is reporting that Tom Brady is very happy about becoming a daddy. Here is a look at the statement that was read by his agent, Don Yee:

“Tom and his family are excited about the pregnancy, and want to thank everyone who has shown support, and particularly for their consideration of Tom’s privacy. Privacy and consideration is appreciated at this time. No further comments will be made.”

Brady had been overseas with his current girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen and presumably is still there. So how will it affect his relationship with Gisele? Will he do the right thing and marry Bridget Moynahan, the mother of his child?

Brady’s image had been so squeakly clean so this news could tarnish his image. Or will it?

Who would you rather be with a 36 year old B-list actor or a top supermodel who is 26?

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Britney Spears Update: Rehab Edition

Well this explains her strange behavior this past weekend. According to Reuter’s, Britney Spears has entered a rehab facility in the Los Angeles area. Her family had asked her to go into rehab and it looks like she finally took their advice.

It is not known whether she will be receiving treatment for drugs or alcohol but I’d have to think it is both. She definitely looked strung out on something. Maybe she made the jaunt to Club Roxy on Sunday to have one last bender before entering rehab. Also some people are speculating that she maybe suffering from post partum depression after giving birth a second time.

I feel sorry for her kids right now. They are too young to understand what is going on. And again I will say why hasn’t California’s version of DCF stepped in and done something with the children. If Kevin Federline was trying to get custody of his kids from the drunk Spears, he might have a better shot now.

Bobby Knight Speaks Out About Age Requirement

Bobby Knight is always full of opinions. So his latest comments about the NBA rule that players must be 1 yr out of high school before entering the NBA don’t surprise me in the least.

Here is what Knight said to the AP:

“Because now you can have a kid come to school for a year and play basketball and he doesn’t even have to go to class,” Knight said Monday. “He certainly doesn’t have to go to class the second semester. I’m not exactly positive about the first semester. But he would not have to attend a single class the second semester to play through the whole second semester of basketball.

“That, I think, has a tremendous effect on the integrity of college sports.”

A lot of the coaches like the rule. It allows a player to come to a school and show off his talents for the NBA. I have to say though, I am in agreement with Knight on this one. What is to say the kid attends class in the second semester? He would definitely have to attend classes in the first semester and get the required grades to stay eligible. But after that, why would the kid want to attend class. He knows he is going to be entering the NBA draft in the spring. He knows he will be making millions of dollars.

Now I am sure that his family probably has taken an insurance policy out in case of injury to protect his future. But what if he gets injured and has to go back for another year. What happens now when he blew off classes in the second semester? Well for starters, odds are he would be ineligible for the first semester and would have to get his grades up.

So why can’t the NBA consider doing what the NFL does? The NFL says that you must be 3 years removed from high school before entering the draft. This gives most of the kids 3 years of a college education. To me this would be the smartest thing the NBA can do. By being in school 3 years, most of the kids would be close to finishing their degree allowing them to go back and finish.

The schools are spending millions and millions of dollars on scholarships and what do they get from it. Most of what they get is the exposure to their school and the revenue generated from the program. You would think that they would be more prouder of the fact that their graduate is in the NBA or any other sport rather than hearing well he attended “No Name University.”

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Who Will Win the AL East?

Since spring training is upon us now, it is time to start making predictions about who will win each division. Before I make my choices, I have decided to let you the reader decide who you think will win. First, we are starting with the American League East.

{democracy:12}

Britney Spears Update

Before we go into some sports related stuff, lets check out the lastest from the Britney Spears shaving her head debacle.

According to like every news organization and stuff, Britney Spears actually shaved her own head. The owner of the salon where she went to get her cut was afraid of being sued. Mrs Federline Miss Spears grabbed the clippers from someone at the salon and shaved her own head with the owner of the salon doing the final touchup.

Britney was spotted out at The Roxy on Sunday night sporting the beautiful blonde wig seen on the left.

I really think she has lost her mind. She will probably end up like Anna Nicole soon if she doesn’t get her act together. I’d like to know who is watching the kids while she is out being a skank in public. Can’t DCF get involved out in Cali because she is proving to be a totally unfit mother. I can tell you this is she was in the great state of Connecticut, her children would in the DCF system here.

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