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    UConn Women's Basketball
    Friday, May 03, 2024

    Postcard from San Antonio: Just wait until next year

    I was so close to the court Friday night, I could even see ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    Hey, everyone!

    Well, it's Sunday and time for me to leave San Antonio after 11 days. I finally got a seat closer to the court at the Alamodome on Friday night, just in time to see Arizona up close as it completely flustered UConn on both ends of the floor. As UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, it isn't easy at this level and Arizona, although the underdog — the NCAA made a Final Four highlight video this week and completely left out the Wildcats; talk about fuel for the fire — proved itself fun to watch and Final Four-worthy.

    I will always remember the seven UConn freshmen this season and the fresh take they brought. I mean, they started jokingly calling Geno "Big G." Who does that?

    If one of the freshmen was on a video conference with one of the upper classmen, they always deferred to the elder statesman. If two of the freshmen came on the video together, forget it. They always wound up in gales of laughter. After Paige Bueckers broke the UConn single-game assist record with 14 on Feb. 27 at Butler, for instance, she appeared with fellow freshman Aaliyah Edwards. Edwards was informed that she was the one to score the layup for Bueckers' final assist and the record. Giggling and high-fives ensued along with the revelation that Edwards had locked Bueckers out of her hotel room earlier that day and that Bueckers "was kind of spazzing out a little bit." It was always interesting that they could be so goofy and yet so talented.

    Leaving the Alamodome on Friday night, I walked back to my hotel, about a mile. There were still a ton of people out strolling around the city at 1 a.m., music still blaring from Pat O'Brien's, and I found out that the group of security personnel who guard the Alamo, the Alamo Rangers, are on duty 24 hours a day. UConn lost, but the outside world was still in mid-Friday night mayhem. Good to stay busy until next year, I guess, when the Huskies will have everyone back plus the No. 2 recruiting class in the country.

    I had a great time here, mostly looking for ways to bring you guys little slices of the city. To be honest, I'm a little tired of mini bottles of shampoo and mini-toothpastes, tired of trying to explain to my Uber drivers where to drop me off at the Alamodome — I went 0-for-3 in that department — and although this might be blasphemous, I'm even a little bit sick of tacos. Haha.

    Now it's time for other things, high school softball, walks on the Niantic Boardwalk and my second COVID-19 shot all coming up soon. I just wanted to be sure to thank you all for taking this trip with me!

    Best always,

    Your tour guide,

    Vickie

    This was my vantage point Friday night at the Alamodome for the 69-59 Arizona win over UConn in the Women's Final Four. It was waaay closer than my seat for the first two games. But no lamp. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    I was walking down Houston Street in San Antonio the other day, not far from my hotel, and caught these guys painting one of the city's many murals on the side of a building. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    The San Antonio Express-News, located a couple blocks from my hotel ... newspapers rock!!! (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    The San Antonio Express-News has tributes to some of the city's memorable moments on the side of the building, like the Spurs' 1999 NBA championship over the Knicks. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    The Alamo Rangers guard the historic Alamo 24 hours a day. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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    The historic Emily Morgan Hotel was my stomping grounds for my stay in San Antonio. I found out what floors all the vending machines were on and frequented the Texas-shaped waffle off the room service breakfast menu. The funny thing is that it was billed as one of the media hotels for the Final Four ... and I didn't see a single other media person here the entire time. (Vickie Fulkerson/The Day)
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