Big East Regular Season Title – ?
Undefeated Regular Season – ?
Big East Tournament Title – ?
NCAA Title – TBD
Undefeated Season – TBD

If there was any doubt as to who the best team in women’s basketball was, the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team showed everyone why they are the best team in the land right now.

Maya Moore had 28 points, taking home Big East Most Outstanding Player honors, to lead the No. 1 Huskies to a 75-36 whooping of the No. 5 Louisville Cardinals to win their second straight Big East Women’s Tournament title and 5th in the last 6 years.

It’s 15th time the Huskies (33-0) have won the Big East title and they will be a No. 1 seed when the brackets are announced on Monday night. For the Cardinals (29-4), a No. 2 seed is mostly like in the cards for them.

Moore added 5 rebounds and 3 blocks while Tina Charles added a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds. Renee Montgomery added 7 points and 5 assists while Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes chipped in with 6 points each.

After scoring 66 points in the first two games the Cardinals played, All-American Angel McCoughtry was held to 9 points, which led her team. Candyce Bingham added 6 points and 7 rebounds while Monique Reid also had 6 points.

UConn got out of the gates quickly again racing out to a 9-0 lead before McCoughtry hit a 3-pointer. The Huskies extended that run to 18-4 before Becky Burke hit another three-pointer with 11:59 to go in the half.

The Huskies then used a 15-2 run to open up a 24 point lead at 33-9. UConn kept pushing the ball and hitting there shots while Louisville couldn’t buy a basket and increased the lead to 31 points at 50-19. The Cardinals did score the last 5 points of the half to cut UConn’s lead to 50-24.

Part of the reason why the Cardinals fell behind by so much is the fact that they shot 25% (7-of-28) while UConn shot 58.6% (17-of-29).

Things didn’t get any better for the Cardinals in the second half as it took them 8:03 to score and by that point the game was out of reach at 65-25. When Moore left the game with 7:52 to go, she had more points (28) than Louisville did (27).

Everyone expected Louisville to play better but the one difference is that UConn didn’t have any trouble with their first two opponents and were able to rest their starters while the Cardinals first game went into double overtime. And their game against Pittsburgh on Monday night went down to the wire. I’m sure they won’t make excuses but that’s just one reason why they lost. The other reason, UConn was the better on this night like they have been all season long.

It’s a statement win by the Huskies who have announced to the world of women’s college basketball that you will have to play your absolute best for 40 minutes to beat us. And the scary part is that might not even be good enough.

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They’ve been bitter rivals in the two games they’ve played against each other this year. Now they share an award.

The Big East Conference announced today that UConn Huskies junior center Hasheem Thabeet and Pittsburgh Panthers sophomore center DeJuan Blair were named the Big East Co-Players of the Year. It’s the first time the award has been shared since the 2001-02 season when Caron Butler (UConn) and Brandon Knight (Pittsburgh) were honored.

Thabeet averaged a double-double with 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and added 4.5 blocks per game this season while Blair averaged 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds. Both players were named to the All-Big East First Team and Thabeet was also named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight time.

BIG EAST Players of the Year

• Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut
• DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh

BIG EAST Rookie of the Year

• Greg Monroe, Georgetown

Oppenheimer Funds BIG EAST Coach of the Year

• Jay Wright, Villanova

While we await the announcement of the rest of the Big East Men’s Regular Season Awards and the start of the UConn Huskies game against Louisville in the Big East Women’s Tournament Final, let’s take a look at a few links that have come across during the day.

UConn women’s basketball links

Championship Tuesday — Huskies, Cardinals [Connecticut Post]

Bonding and winning [Elm City to Eagleville]

It’s No. 1 vs. No. 5 in the country at the XL [New London Day]

Looking Back: Louisville Coach Jeff Walz Following Last Year’s Big East Title Game [UConn | Women’s Basketball]

With some of the players returning from the World Baseball Classic, the Boston Red Sox have made their first cuts of the spring.

They have reassigned pitcher Charlie Zink,  catcher Carlos Maldonado and shortstop Argenis Diaz to the minor league complex down the road.

And then there were cuts… [Extra Bases]

It’s game day once again for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will face Angel McCoughtry and the Louisville Cardinals in the championship game of the Big East Women’s Tournament. Tip is scheduled for roughly 7 PM and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you can’t catch the game in the Connecticut area, you can always listen to WTIC-1080 or online at WTIC.com.

UConn women’s basketball links

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRnr5ghWCcA[/youtube]

UConn has Maya Moore … and you don’t [ESPN Insider]

McCoughtry and Moore Set Stage for Title Game [New York Times]

World According to Harry [Elm City to Eagleville]

The Cardinals aren’t afraid of anything [UConn | Women’s Basketball]

On Camera: John Altavilla Previews Big East Championship Night [UConn | Women’s Basketball]

Hayes Locks Down Kurz [Connecticut Post]

Nova can’t slow down Huskies [The Daily Campus]

Championship Tuesday — Huskies, Cardinals [Connecticut Post]

UConn Beats Villanova, Reaches Big East Final [Hartford Courant]

Maya Moore Is One Of A Kind [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women Rested For Big East Final [Hartford Courant]

UConn women’s extras [Hartford Courant]

Hayes takes care of Villanaova’s top gun [Waterbury Republican-American]

Auriemma wants more shots from Moore [Waterbury Republican-American]

UConn women: Comparing the power forwards [Waterbury Republican-American]

Moore, Huskies ease into Big East championship [Norwich Bulletin]

Hayes makes her impact on defense [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies Silence ’Cats; will meet Louisville in tourney final [New Haven Register]

UConn routs Villanova, in Big East final [Connecticut Post]

UConn women’s notebook [Connecticut Post]

UConn women’s report card [Connecticut Post]

Maya dominates, propels UConn rout [Connecticut Post]

UConn women’s game day [Connecticut Post]

Big East Women’s Tournament Belongs At Mohegan Sun [New London Day]

Hayes Shuts Down Villanova’s Best Player [New London Day]

Capsule look at UConn-Louisville [New London Day]

Moore Brilliance [Journal Inquirer]

It’s no time for fatigue [Journal Inquirer]

Villanova women can’t stop UConn in Big East Tournament semifinal [Philadelphia Daily News]

UConn women trounce ‘Nova, gain Big East title game [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Cards get their rematch [Louisville Courier-Journal]

UConn men’s basketball links

UCONN: 2009 NCAA Tournament Capsule [CollegeHoops.net]

Big East marathon could produce three No. 1 seeds [Sporting News]

UConn: Rolling Without Dice [ZSmart’s Sports Blog]

Sick day [Matt’s UConn men’s basketball blog]

UConn practice quick hits [UConn | Men’s Basketball]

A new starter? [In Storrs Now]

Would He, Haralson? [Emeka, Nadav and Corny]

Sully’s Court: Championship Week Thoughts [College Sports Blog]

Top Five Reasons Why UConn is Better then Louisville [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Train, Train [Emeka, Nadav and Corny]

UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet Big East Defensive Player Of Year [Hartford Courant]

Where Thabeet Ranks [Hartford Courant]

Thabeet tabbed as Big East’s top defender again [Norwich Bulletin]

A defensive repeat for Thabeet [New Haven Register]

Thabeet defensive player of the player [Connecticut Post]

Calhoun Made Change Lineup [New London Day]

UConn’s Thabeet Repeats As Big East’s Top Defender [New London Day]

Hardware Storrs [Journal Inquirer]

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT [Washington Post]

Staple breaks down the Big East tournament; picks UConn [Off The Glass]

UConn football links

Checkin’ In With Lloyd And Lutrus [UConn | Football]

Other UConn related links

This Week’s Sign Of The Apocalypse [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

This Week From Austria: White Bread? What? [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Three Huskies Named To USF Under Armour Invitational All-Tournament Team [UConnHuskies.com]

Lacrosse Returns to the Road for its Next Contest at Marist [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball Drops 4-2 Decision to Miami of Ohio [UConnHuskies.com]

Ze Americans and der Heestory [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

It was a rough afternoon for Boston Red Sox shortstop as he made 2 errors which allowed some unearned runs to score. But after 4 hours and 10 minutes of some Grapefruit League baseball, the Red Sox pulled out a 15-14 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on a Josh Reddick RBI double in the 10th inning.

Jon Lester threw the ball well this afternoon but was the victim of the normally steady Lowrie’s errors. Lester went 2 1/3 innings, giving up 4 run (1 earned) on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 2. Takashi Saito worked an inning, allowing a run on a hit and 2 walks while countryman Hideki Okajima also went an inning, giving up a hit. Manny Delcarmen had a rough inning of work, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk while striking out 1 and Ramon Ramirez rebounded from some poor performances giving up a hit and striking out 2 in an inning.

Rough afternoons for Billy Traber and Wes Littleton as well out of the bullpen. Traber allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk in an inning while Littleton gave up 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1.

Both Jeff Bailey and Josh Bard had good afternoons at the plate as did Brad Wilkerson and Dusty Brown. Bailey continued to swing a hot stick as he went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .524 and also scored 2 runs. Bard went 2-for-3 with a 3-run homer and walk while Wilkerson’s only hit of the afternoon was a grand salami. Brown went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and 2 RBIs while Nick Green added a home run as well.

The Red Sox are back in action this afternoon when the Baltimore Orioles come to City of Palms Park. The game will be televised on MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network). There’s no radio coverage of the game. Mike Lowell will be making his spring debut and will get two at-bats as the DH. He’s expected to play the field for the first time on Friday.

Several members of the Red Sox organization were also busy participating in the World Baseball Classic yesterday.

Jason Bay will be heading back to Ft. Myers in the next day or so as Team Canada was eliminated from the WBC by Italy in a 6-2 loss. Bay went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. Javier Lopez didn’t see any action in Puerto Rico’s 3-1 win over the Netherlands. Sox farmhand Denis Neuman took the loss for the Dutch giving up 2 runs on 2 walks without recording an out. Another Sox farmhand, Justin Erasmus, started for South Africa and was tagged for the loss against Mexico. He went 3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 2.

David Ortiz and the Dominican Republic will be in action tonight at 6:30 PM on the MLB Network and ESPN Deportes when they’ll get a rematch with the Dutch. And lastly, Mitch Dening and his Australian teammates will face Cuba at 10 PM on the MLB Network and ESPN Deportes for a chance to advance to the next round in San Diego.

Linkage after the jump.

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An 11-0 run to close out the first half by the No. 1 UConn Huskies was all they needed as they cruised to a 72-42 win over the Villanova Wildcats to advance to the finals of the Big East Women’s Tournament at the XL Center tomorrow night.

The Huskies move to 32-0 on the season and will face the winner of Louisville/Pittsburgh in the finals tomorrow night at 7 PM on ESPN. It’s the 5th straight season UConn has advanced to the finals.

Maya Moore led the Huskies with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals. Tina Charles chipped in with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Renee Montgomery added 12 points. Kalana Green had 11 points and Tiffany Hayes led the Huskies with 6 assists.

The Wildcats were led by Tia Grant who had 13 points while Siobhan O’Conner added 11 points.  Lisa Karcic added 7 points and after a great game against Notre Dame, Laura Kurz was held scoreless.

UConn started out quickly getting out to a 12-4 lead. Villanova kept it close though using a 5-point run to cut the lead to 3.  The Huskies worked their lead to 22-11 before the Wildcats used their long-range shooting to get back into the game going on a 15-4 run to tie the game up at 26.

As the Huskies have done all season long when facing adversity, they responded and responded big time as they closed the half out on an 11-0 run to take a 37-26 lead at the break.

The second saw the Huskies continue the run as they outscored the Wildcats 12-2 to start the half to open up a 20 point lead. After that, the Huskies continued to increase their lead and keep the Wildcats at bay as they scored just 16 points over the final 24 minutes of the game.

An absolutely amazing performance on defense tonight by Hayes on Kurz. Kurz came into the game averaging 18.1 points and had a streak of 27 games in double digits snapped. It’s not something that will show up in the box score but you would have to think Geno Auriemma is proud of his freshman guard. She has improved a 1,000% this season on defense.

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