The official news Tuesday was that UConn senior Maya Moore became the second player in history to become a unanimous choice on the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

Perhaps the real news came later from UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

"Watching her practice the last three weeks," he said following practice at Gampel Pavilion. "She's even better than she was the last three years.

"I don't know if she dribbles better or passes better. … But with 8 seconds left on the shot clock and we need a bucket, she's getting one. It's just overwhelming."

Maya joins former Duke All-American Alana Beard, who was also a two-time unanimous pick.

Also named to the preseason team were Baylor sophomore Brittney Griner, Stanford junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Ohio State senior Jantel Lavender and Oklahoma senior Danielle Robinson.

Maya, by the way, in case you've never met her, speaks like an All-American, too.

Asked Tuesday of the progress of the freshmen, she remarked that coming into an "intense program" such as UConn's, she wanted to remind the rookies to have fun.

"We're so critical of ourselves, 'What else can you do better?' you have to encourage them to celebrate, enjoy it, embrace that," Maya said. "As a senior, I still have to remember that."

Quotable

Geno, meanwhile, has spent a lot of time in the first few weeks of the season answering questions about No. 1 UConn's five freshmen. If they were overwhelmed at first, he found sort of a solution to that: make sure they're not all on the court at the same time.

"We've limited their exposure to the lights at Gampel Pavilion," Geno said last week, "so they don't get heat exposure. … We've done a much better job of, 'We don't want these guys out there by themselves.'"