Another old game: 2004 Eastern Regional vs Penn State

[HuskyNan]

I love me my Huskies but this wasn't a great team. But they had grit & determination, great coaching and, of course, Diana Taurasi. For those who may not remember, this was the game in which DT hit the over the head, backward pass to Jess Moore. UConn was a #2 seed to PSU's #1 in the Hartford Regional.

Some memories from the game:

• Barbara Turner had one of her best games as a Husky, hitting threes, driving to the basket and making jumpers. She was unstoppable, scoring 26 points. She and Diana had something like 80% of the team's scoring vs Penn State.
• The defense on Kelly Mazzante was outstanding. Geno rotated AB, Maria, Ann and even occasionally Diana on her.
• Diana was Diana - hitting threes from everywhere, nailing jumpers and making it look like she was shooting shots in her backyard. She was hitting shots with one girl's arm on her bicep and another girl's hand in her face. Just awesome.
• Reeney in her grey prison matron suit, lol.
• Ann Meyers raved about UConn's spacing, passing and control of the tempo. Some things never change, do they?
• I was at that game and it may be the loudest crowd I was in; the tape sounds like we were screaming through most of the game which really was pretty much the case.
• UConn was up big on PSU, by 21 points, and coughed up much of the lead late in the game before pulling it out by double digits. It pretty much summed up that season.
• LOL, Geno got a patented Taurasi Butt Pat when he took her out of the game to a standing O with 21.7 seconds remaining.

 

[alexrgct]

That was one of D's signature plays for sure. I know UConn felt a bit miffed by not getting the #1 seed, but being a #2 and staying in your home state isn't a bad second option.

If you want to see the pass again, it's within the first 15 seconds of this youtube video.

The finals matchup with Tennessee was intense that year. Jessica Moore's finest hour at UConn, IMO.

 

[sarals24]

LOL, Geno got a patented Taurasi Butt Pat when he took her out of the game to a standing O with 21.7 seconds remaining.
[/quote]

Diana has got to be Geno's favorite player ever, hands down. He'll probably never say it.

 

[HuskyNan]

Diana has got to be Geno's favorite player ever, hands down. He'll probably never say it.

I don't know. Remember when he got all misty-eyed when a reporter told him that Renee said, "He thinks I didn't like him when I was a freshman but I did. And now I love him"? I think he and Renee had a special friendship.

 

[magic]

I love me my Huskies but this wasn't a great team. But they had grit & determination, great coaching and, of course, Diana Taurasi. For those who may not remember, this was the game in which DT hit the over the head, backward pass to Jess Moore. UConn was a #2 seed to PSU's #1 in the Hartford Regional.

Some memories from the game:

• Barbara Turner had one of her best games as a Husky, hitting threes, driving to the basket and making jumpers. She was unstoppable, scoring 26 points. She and Diana had something like 80% of the team's scoring vs Penn State.
• The defense on Kelly Mazzante was outstanding. Geno rotated AB, Maria, Ann and even occasionally Diana on her.
• Diana was Diana - hitting threes from everywhere, nailing jumpers and making it look like she was shooting shots in her backyard. She was hitting shots with one girl's arm on her bicep and another girl's hand in her face. Just awesome.
• Reeney in her grey prison matron suit, lol.
• Ann Meyers raved about UConn's spacing, passing and control of the tempo. Some things never change, do they?
• I was at that game and it may be the loudest crowd I was in; the tape sounds like we were screaming through most of the game which really was pretty much the case.
• UConn was up big on PSU, by 21 points, and coughed up much of the lead late in the game before pulling it out by double digits. It pretty much summed up that season.
• LOL, Geno got a patented Taurasi Butt Pat when he took her out of the game to a standing O with 21.7 seconds remaining.

The game I remember most from that weekend was the UC Santa Barbara game. We were sitting right next to the basket, and it was an extremely physical game. Barbara turner was huge. The game was close til the end. April Mcdivit was very good . The civic center was rocking. And who could forget the UC Santa Barbara cheering section. A great weekend of basaketball.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

I loved that Penn State game! Holding the #1 seed to 19 points in the first half. . . Barbara Turner hitting almost every shot she took--unstoppable. I'm sure Penn State was thinking she'd start missing them, but she never did. And that DT pass--would have been perfect if Jess had made the basket, but I'll bet she was surprised to find the ball in her hands.

One of the things that surprised me when I went to my first (!) UConn game last week was how regularly the players pass to a place, not a person, and the person just shows up and catches it.

 

[jsloanjr]

That 2004 game at the XL was one of my favorites........Remember, when UCONN came out the Home team end of the court to rub it in the PSU that this is our house.........The place went crazy before the game when that happened......

 

[UConnCat]

I'll always remember the defense on Mazzante in that game. Talk about physical. Mazzante crossed the lane early in the game and was greeted by a forearm shiver by BT. The early message: she was going to earn her points.

 

[Sonny44]

I love me my Huskies but this wasn't a great team. But they had grit & determination, great coaching and, of course, Diana Taurasi. For those who may not remember, this was the game in which DT hit the over the head, backward pass to Jess Moore. UConn was a #2 seed to PSU's #1 in the Hartford Regional.

Some memories from the game:

• Barbara Turner had one of her best games as a Husky, hitting threes, driving to the basket and making jumpers. She was unstoppable, scoring 26 points. She and Diana had something like 80% of the team's scoring vs Penn State.
• The defense on Kelly Mazzante was outstanding. Geno rotated AB, Maria, Ann and even occasionally Diana on her.
• Diana was Diana - hitting threes from everywhere, nailing jumpers and making it look like she was shooting shots in her backyard. She was hitting shots with one girl's arm on her bicep and another girl's hand in her face. Just awesome.
• Reeney in her grey prison matron suit, lol.
• Ann Meyers raved about UConn's spacing, passing and control of the tempo. Some things never change, do they?
• I was at that game and it may be the loudest crowd I was in; the tape sounds like we were screaming through most of the game which really was pretty much the case.
• UConn was up big on PSU, by 21 points, and coughed up much of the lead late in the game before pulling it out by double digits. It pretty much summed up that season.
• LOL, Geno got a patented Taurasi Butt Pat when he took her out of the game to a standing O with 21.7 seconds remaining.

So where's the video Nan?

 

[KGHoops]

The game I remember most from that weekend was the UC Santa Barbara game. We were sitting right next to the basket, and it was an extremely physical game. Barbara turner was huge. The game was close til the end. April Mcdivit was very good . The civic center was rocking. And who could forget the UC Santa Barbara cheering section. A great weekend of basaketball.

One of my favorite memories from that game: Every time the UCSB "Gaucho" would try to lead a "U-C-S-B" cheer, the UConn fans would drown them out by chanting "O-N-N" as soon as they got to the "C." IIRC the Gaucho finally gave up.