Posted 4/9/2009

CONNECTICUT WOMEN INSPIRE US ALL

The UConn Women Huskies capped a perfect season by blowing out Louisville in the NCWA final, 76 to 54.

What they did and how they did it should inspire all of us suffering the tough times of economic retrenchment and job layoffs.

Let's look at what they did:

It is said that "nature abhors a vacuum, a perfect state of nothingness." That means that perfect vacuums are very hard to come by and maintain.

But the UConn Women Huskies created and maintained a perfect state of nothingness the whole length of the basketball season. The nothingness they created was the perfect absence of victories for their opponents. They ran up 39 straight zeros for the opposing teams. In fact, no team got within 10 points of Connecticut's perfect women and they creamed opponents by an average margin of almost 30 points. In short, they were the most dominant team in the history of women's college basketball.

It's the kind of inspiring performance that instructs us to believe that the odds are never too long to achieve success, whether success is defined as getting an education or getting a job.

But even more instructive to us is how they got the championship trophy and the obstacles they had to overcome on the journey.

A good basketball team needs seven or eight good players to start a season. The five starters need at least two or three good substitutes to come off the bench, play well and afford the starters some needed rest. Injuries are also a factor requiring some team depth.

The UConn women seemed to start the season in decent shape. They had five starters and two good substitutes. But adversity struck hard. The top national high school recruit decided she didn't want to play basketball for Connecticut (or for anyone, for that matter), dropped out of Connecticut and enrolled in Delaware, deciding to play volleyball instead.

That brought the Huskies down to six players.

Then, early in the season, star guard Carolyn Doty blew out her knee, ending her season. It was a big loss because she was a great defender and the best three-point shooter on the team.

And then there were five.

As they rolled through to mid-season, all the experts claimed the Huskies would lose "for lack of depth." Announcers issued dire warnings about "foul trouble" and "additional injuries." Some claimed that the five starters would play so many minutes that they would wear down.

But despite all the dire warnings and the tremendous toll of playing heavy minutes, the UConn Huskies refused to succumb to the warnings. The did not wear down. They did not foul out. They did not get injured. All they did was win, by ever-increasing margins.

They won because their three stars -- Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles and Maya Moore -- played brilliant offense and defense. They won because guards Tiffany Hayes and Kalana Greene stepped up, playing stellar defense and adding offense when opponents attempted to smother the three stars.

And they won because they scored so quickly and so much that they were able to sit down and rest during many games, letting the subs take over. Great rest was afforded when playing weaker teams.

But the NCWA championships were different. There were no weaker teams. There would be little or no rest. They would face monster centers, swift wing(wo)men and agile guards. To win, the UConn women would face six consecutive grueling games against the best teams in the nation. Could the starting five stand up? Would they finally wear down?

When a player begins to wear down, she gets tight and tired. She loses her fluidity and bounce. She misses easy shots and commits turnovers.

This began to happen to UConn's three stars. Lightning quick Renee Montgomery lost her shooting eye in two of the six games. She was so tight in the final game that she turned the ball over five times, incredible for the best point guard in the country.

Maya Moore, voted America's best player, saw her shooting average diminish. But she continued to play brilliant defense and make incredible passes. As the two stars stumbled, other players stepped up.

UConn's Tiffany Hayes, irritated that no one seemed to be guarding her, dumped in 25 points in one game. In the semi-final, Renee Montgomery carried the team when the rest of the players cooled off.

Luckily for the UConn Huskies, there was one player who refused to cool off. She refused to run down. She fought off the opponents' monster centers and dominated the glass at both ends of the count.

In the final against Louisville, UConn's remarkable center carried the team as everyone else faltered. In the first half alone she had a double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds. This would be considered a great performance in a championship game – but she accomplished it in a mere half game. She went on to score 25 points and 19 rebounds, utterly demoralizing the Louisville Cardinals.

She was voted the most valuable player in the final four – a great honor.

Her name is Tina Charles.

A young woman who should be an inspiration for us all.

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