Adamec: Final Four memory fuels KML's memorable run

[pap49cba]

On April 1, 2012, UConn held a two-point lead over Notre Dame with 11.8 seconds left in the NCAA Final Four semifinals at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Irish guard Skylar Diggins drove into the lane and missed, but Natalie Novosel beat Mosqueda-Lewis to the rebound and scored with 4.6 seconds to go to force overtime. Notre Dame controlled the extra session and went on to face Baylor for the title while UConn went home.

Does she still think about that rebound she didn’t get?

“Every time that Coach Auriemma brings it up,” Mosqueda-Lewis said with a smile. “How often does he bring it up? Every tournament time, that’s for sure.”

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[UconnWBB]

“It’s still motivating me,” Mosqueda-Lewis said. “It’s the idea that every rebound, every play matters. Every play can be the one that wins the game for you."

And thus the lesson is learned..albeit the hard way this time....

 

[RockyMTblue2]

As I said in another thread: Much as I love Stewie, K was the real MVP of the NCAA Tourney - not the final 4 - the whole tourney. But for K, the middle games of the Tourney were stinkers that could have been lost. K is our Marine. Semper Phi... you get it. Teach the young ones while you can.

 

[Sonny44]

She's always been my favorite.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Just as the 2001 loss to ND fueled the 2002 team, that play motivates Kaleena. She didn't travel across the country to lose in the national semi-final.

Kaleena has been overlooked some since Stewie arrived, but no one was better than Kaleena in the 2013 and 2014 NCAA tourneys. Stewie missed a game in 2013 and struggled in Omaha in 2014. Kaleena has 17 straight tourney games in double figures.

If Kaleena averages 18.8 ppg over 39 games, she'll pass the great Tina Charles for second place in UConn career scoring. That's a possibility. If Kaleena had not missed 12 games last year, that accomplishment would have been, well, a slam dunk.

 

[ASweet3781]

Kaleena is sorta in the same boat as Tina was when Maya arrived. They sorta get overshadowed by the superstar that followed but in their own right they are irreplaceable and need to be on the list of UConn greats.