Big East women's basketball notes

The 2002 Big East Conference women's basketball tournament saw UConn beating Villanova 83-39.

The following year, Villanova grabbed the headlines, upsetting the top-ranked Huskies 52-48 in the tournament final played at Rutgers and ending UConn's NCAA record-setting 70-game winning streak.

UConn now has a 62-game streak. What would it take to end it?

"The mentality has to be that you can't be afraid," Villanova coach Harry Perretta said this week in a conference call. "Those particular kids were not afraid going into that game.

"That particular team that upset UConn had a lot of experienced players and they understood what the whole thing was all about. So I think you have to not be afraid. I also think you need experienced players who can handle the pressure of the situation. That was the biggest factor going for us."

Trish Juhline scored 18 points and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament for Villanova, which was ranked 14th in the country and went on to the Elite Eight before losing to Tennessee.

UConn went on to beat Tennessee for the national championship in Atlanta, its fourth of what is now six national titles.

Villanova had a 17-2 run to take a decisive lead in the upset after which Perretta said at the time he turned to assistant coach Joe Mullaney and asked if what just happened was true.

Mullaney's response:

"Yeah, Einstein."

Geno: Buck still too nervous

• UConn coach Geno Auriemma remembers telling someone that if the Huskies had Heather Buck a year ago he would have been much more confident heading into the Final Four against Stanford and its post strength.

Buck, the 6-foot-4 center from Stonington High School, was redshirting after sitting out early in the year with mononucleosis, but practicing well.

This year, however, Auriemma has seen Buck, a redshirt freshman, miss layups, commit ill-advised fouls and a variety of other things that seemed uncharacteristic of her a year ago when the coach said "she can play at this level and she knows it."

"Heather has to play in practice to her strengths. Right now she's more worried about making a mistake," Auriemma said last week when asked about Buck. "Now she thinks everybody's paying attention and she doesn't want to make a mistake. 'What if I do this?'

"I try to put her in situations, non-threatening situations, where it's like, 'if you miss, we're up by 40 instead of 42.' Everybody's got a different timetable. I'm not sure what hers is."

Buck, averaging 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game, blocked a shot at the end of the first half Saturday in an 84-38 win over Louisville. Auriemma put her in the game in the second half with 13:50 play, but Buck didn't fare as well.

She committed four fouls in the nine minutes she played and the coach took her out with 4:31 to go. She was 0-3 with three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

There's always to-Morrow

• When Syracuse lost to St. John's on Jan. 27 at the Carrier Dome, 68-65, the Orange led 65-64 late before junior guard Erica Morrow turned the ball over, giving St. John's the opportunity for the victory.

Morrow, who was adamantly defended by coach Quentin Hillsman for doing exactly what he asked her to on the play, has come back strong for Syracuse. She had 14 points and seven rebounds in a 74-73 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame on Jan. 30 and had nine points, seven rebounds and only one turnover in the team's 87-80 victory on Tuesday at Pittsburgh.

"I think she's responded in a very, very positive way," Syracuse assistant coach Rick Moody said this week in a conference call, standing in for Hillsman. "Any time you lose the ball at the end of a game like that, you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

"I talked to her one day. I told her if you're going to be a great player, then you have to accept the fact you're a risk-taker. If you're not willing to take a risk when the game is on the line, then you're never going to be quite the player you're capable of being."

After Saturday's game against Marquette, Morrow, a Brooklyn native and a graduate of highly touted Murry Bertraum High School, was averaging 10.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

Said Hillsman in his comments following the St. John's game: "This is a very unforgiving sport. You guys write the facts and the fact is she turned the ball over. She doesn't really deserve that. She's a tough kid and if she doesn't come to Syracuse University, I'm not eating right now. I don't have a job right now."

Around the Big East

• UConn and Georgetown are the only two Big East teams to have nonleague games remaining. UConn plays at Oklahoma on Feb. 15 as part of ESPN's February Frenzy/Pink Zone to highlight breast cancer awareness. Georgetown, meanwhile, has rescheduled its game against Jacksonville State, postponed earlier in the year due to a blizzard, for Feb. 25. … Pittsburgh's Kate Popovec, a sophomore forward, fractured her foot on a fast break during the Panthers' game against UConn on Jan. 30 and is out for the season, coach Agnus Berenato said.

… Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw picked up her 600th career victory on the road, Jan. 19 at Louisville. The fans at Notre Dame's Joyce Center honored McGraw on the Irish's next trip home, however, holding up signs with the number 600 on them when McGraw took the floor prior to the team's game against West Virginia. Said McGraw, who previously called the moment of the top five of her career: "It was definitely a great time to look back on all the players who have contributed, all the assistant coaches. … I'm just chasing Geno (719 wins at UConn). I have a long way to go. I'm just following in his wake." … Auriemma's red Brioni tie that he wore against West Virginia had drawn 36 bids on eBay as of Sunday afternoon and was going for $395. Auriemma is auctioning off his game-worn ties for the remainder of the season to benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Vickie Fulkerson covers the UConn women's basketball team for The Day.