Storrs — It was announced prior to the game that Monday night's NCAA tournament second-round matchup at Gampel Pavilion, No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 Central Florida, was sold out.

It was the third sell-out at Gampel this season, including games against Notre Dame and for a Senior Day matchup with Providence.

For an early-round NCAA tournament game, however, it is rare to fill the 10,167-seat arena. The last time that happened was a second-round game against Iowa in 2002 — en route to a national championship — and the attendance then was 10,027, making Monday's number the biggest Gampel crowd to see the Huskies play an NCAA game.

Seniors Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa were asked on Sunday what they felt was the best part of playing at their on-campus home.

"I would say definitely just the fans," Nelson-Ododa said. "They make the entire atmosphere something special to play in. I feel like a lot of college women's programs can't really say that in terms of just having that fan base and that support, game-in and game-out.

"It doesn't matter if it's against a higher-ranked opponent that we play or against a lower opponent. It doesn't matter. Whoever we play, they come out and support us and that has never lacked in the time I've been here."

Westbrook, Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams were playing their final game at Gampel, while graduate transfer Dorka Juhasz has yet to announce whether she will use her final year of eligibility. The foursome has helped lead UConn to a 26-5 record.

The winner of Monday's game was set to go on to the Sweet 16 in Bridgeport beginning Saturday, meeting either No. 3 Indiana or No. 11 Princeton.

"It definitely feels surreal," Westbrook said of her Gampel finale. "I don't think it'll hit us until we come back and we're just watching as spectators. But it's definitely a cool moment." 

Net gain

• UCF clinched its first American Athletic Conference regular-season title Feb. 26, beating Cincinnati on what happened to be Varsity Knights reunion weekend. In her sixth season as UCF's head coach, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson invited the alumnae present to help cut down the nets.

"When those young women come back and they're living in a lot of different places — so they travel and come see us — when they come back I just want them to always remember," Abrahamson-Henderson said. "I text them when we're doing things and they text me and they say, 'Congratulations,' or they call me.

"I always want them to remember that they were a part of this. Obviously your alumni are really big and fan support's really big and I feel like they all have a piece of it. So when we won the regular-season conference championship, I had them all go up there. Like, 'You were a part of this, too.'"

UCF (26-3) also won its first AAC tournament title, received its first Top 25 ranking, received its highest NCAA tournament seed and won its first NCAA tournament game in program history this season.

Aubrey in the house

• It was just prior to UConn's Big East Conference game at St. John's on Jan. 23 that Aubrey Griffin, a junior on the team who underwent season-ending back surgery on Jan. 10, surprised the Huskies with an appearance. Griffin, who did not play a game this season, hails from Ossining, N.Y., which is about 30 miles from Carnesecca Arena in Queens.

Her arrival, captured on a video later posted by UConn on social media, showed every player on the team leap to her feet and run to greet Griffin, complete with shrieks of joy.

Griffin has now rejoined the team in the midst of what is expected to be a four-month recovery.

"I think Aubrey coming back just brings a sense of happiness for everyone, just having her be in the locker room," UConn's Westbrook said. "Obviously, she can't be on the court with us, but her presence in itself is ... it's felt throughout everyone.

"I think that speaks volumes with how close we are with this team, you know, and what Aubrey means to us. We play for her every game. Just to have her here, especially in this tournament, the one that you work all season for, means a lot to us that she was able to come back."

Griffin has averaged 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 61 career games for the Huskies.

Quotable

• UConn great Nykesha Sales, in her sixth year as an assistant at UCF, on what she brought from her time at UConn to the coaching profession:

"Just bringing the knowledge of what I learned as a player as far as drills, as far as intensity in practice, as far as how you carry yourself off the court, it's just a little bit of everything. My base or foundation was here before I went on to play pro and now coaching but it's a great base to learn how to coach under coach Auriemma and CD (associate coach Chris Dailey)."

v.fulkerson@theday.com