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Taurasi time Junior guard too hot for Tennessee to handle in title gamePosted: Wednesday April 09, 2003 12:58 AM
By Patricia Heys, SI.com ATLANTA -- The question of the game seemed to be "Who had 'D'?" That would be Diana Taurasi, not defense. "We had 'D', and they didn't," said Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma after his Huskies defeated Tennessee 73-68 Tuesday to win the school's fourth national title. "Fortunately, she only has one year left," Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt said of the UConn junior star. "A player like that sets the team apart. She gives the team a lot of confidence, and she also is just a big play person. I think she has helped bring along a young team and provide them with the leadership, confidence and gotten them involved. She's that type of player." Taurasi scored 28 points, the second-highest total in a NCAA championship game, hitting 53 percent from the floor, including four 3-pointers, and was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. The Naismith Player of the Year, Big East Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four emerged this season as the next in a line of exceptional UConn guards. An outstanding player and leader, Taurasi follows closely in the footsteps of former Husky national champions Sue Bird, Shea Ralph and Jennifer Rizzotti. As a freshman, Taurasi was known for her stubbornness and for butting heads with Auriemma. Now, she's matured into what often seems like an assistant coach, taking control of the team not only on the court, but off it as well. "At the beginning of the season, coach kept asking me, 'Are we going to be OK? Are we going to be OK?'" said Taurasi, who is 6-0 in her career against the Lady Vols. "I said, 'Yeah, we are going to be fine, we just need a little time.' It only took six months." Taurasi didn't hit her first field goal until the 11:13 mark in the first half, with Connecticut leading 19-14, but from then on Tennessee couldn't find a way to stop her. "You've got to give Diana a lot of credit," Lady Vols senior forward Gwen Jackson said. "She's been playing that way all year, putting up the big numbers. The key to anyone guarding Diana is you have to bring a big attitude and limit her touches. I think tonight she got a lot of open touches. You've got to give her credit, she knocked them down the whole game." For awhile, it seemed Taurasi couldn't miss. She scored nine straight points for the Huskies late in the game, including a baseline fall-away from behind the backboard, giving Connecticut a 67-54 lead with 6:11 left to play.
"[Connecticut] has players that can do a number of things. Obviously, Diana can hit the three, can take you off the dribble," Tennessee guard Kara Lawson said. "She has tremendous size and [Connecticut] has a lot of big guards. Strother is big, Taurasi is big, so they have players with good quickness and good one-on-one ability."
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