Obama Congratulates UConn Women’s Coach From Air Force One
Posted by: Baller-in-Chief in Articles(From Rich Elliott for The Greenwich Time)
Charles’ greatest game came at great time
Charles rises in title game
ST. LOUIS — Geno Auriemma needed junior center Tina Charles to play great Tuesday in the national title game. He told her as much in the locker room prior to squaring off with No. 7 Louisville.
Auriemma has said a lot of things to Charles during her career. This time, she told her to go out and get a triple-double. He told her to score as many points as she wanted, block as many shots as she wanted. Lastly, he told her to go out and play like the best center in the country.
Being the best center in the country is always something Charles believed was possible. She has had her moments throughout this undefeated season. Yet, in the biggest game of her career, Charles summoned the best performance of her career, one that made her look like the nation’s best center and brought the look of a national champion to the Huskies.
“Maybe I should have said that before every game instead of going in there, `Tina Charles, blah, blah, blah,”’ Auriemma said. “Maybe she was waiting for me to say that. I wish she would have sent me an e-mail or something.
“Tina’s always wanted to be what she did (Tuesday). And one of the things we talked about was if you ever want to be called a great player, you’ve got to play great in this game. And she did.”
Charles, who is extremely athletic at 6-foot-4, was unguardable during the 56 possessions she was on the floor for the Huskies. She finished with 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting and had a team NCAA tournament-record 19 rebounds in 35 minutes.
It is the first time a player has generated 15 points and 15 rebounds in the final since 1996, when Georgia’s La’Keisha Frett had 25 points and 16 rebounds against Tennessee. Charles is the sixth player overall to accomplish the feat.
The performance made her the obvious choice as Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
“It was just another challenge, and I just wanted to show my teammates that they could depend on me,” Charles said. “I was always convinced ever since I went to Connecticut that I do have the potential to become the best center in the country if I wanted to be. I just needed the players around me to help me, which they always do every time I was in practice, and just having Coach in my ear, just pushing me all the time.”
The memorable performance capped a dominant NCAA tournament run for Charles, who averaged 18.3 points and 11.5 rebounds with four double-doubles in UConn’s six-game run to its sixth national championship. More impressively, she averaged 16.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in the two Final Four games.
Charles had a double-double in the first half against Louisville. It was her 13th this season, her fourth of the tournament. And she also scored 11 points in the final 8:32 of the first half during a 22-8 run that broke open a tie game.
“She was great,” senior Renee Montgomery said. “She really came out there and she played aggressively on both ends of the floor. And I think that might be the best game I’ve seen her play in a long time, not only because of the stats but because how she carried herself and how she scored. Just the way she carried herself during the game was unbelievable.”
Charles’ performance capped what was the best season of her career. She averaged a career-high 16.5 points on 62 percent shooting, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 25.2 minutes. And she averaged 17.2 points and 11.6 rebounds in 11 games against nationally ranked opponents.
Charles, who was named to the State Farm All-America team Saturday, is ranked 10th in team history in career scoring (1,638 points) and third in career rebounding (995).
“Tina can definitely build off of this,” Montgomery said. “… I don’t understand how they wouldn’t (win) with those two coming back. It’s going to be tough to stop them.”
Gardler OK
UConn junior forward Meghan Gardler was released from a hospital in St. Louis early Wednesday afternoon after being admitted suffering from a release from the university called gastroenteritis.
“I saw her at the hotel, she was out with her mom, her brother was there, her sister-in-law and they were spending the night together and the next thing you know, she’s at the hospital, so I can’t tell you more than that,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said.
Gardler, who turns 21 on April 11, played the final minute in the NCAA final. But sometime in the postgame, Gardler apparently ate or drank something that disagreed with her, making her ill and sending her to the hospital. One university official denied that alcohol was involved.
Obama 2-for-2
The White House press office confirmed that President Obama called Geno Auriemma Wednesday to congratulate him on the team’s NCAA tournament win and perfect season. In his brackets, Obama had correctly picked UConn’s women to win the tournament as well as North Carolina to win the men’s tourney.
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