Bob Macdonnell Hartford Courant
Diana Taurasi (3) goes up for a shot over Tennessee’s Shyra Ely in UConn's 70-61 victory in New Orleans on Tuesday.
UConn proves its domination
Diana Taurasi won her third
national championship in
her final game as a Husky
By Bill Jauss
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
NEW ORLEANS — As far as Con
necticut fans are concerned, as well as
millions of other basketball fans, "dy
nasty" is spelled "T-A-U-R-A-S-I."
Diana Taurasi, the Huskies' peerless
scorer, playmaker and leader was
tough when necessary Tuesday night
when she led UConn to its third
straight NCAA women's champi
onship with a 70-61 victory over Ten
nessee.
The hard-fought victory enabled
Connecticut to become the first
school to win both the men's and
women's NCAA basketball tourna
ments in the same season. The Husky
men beat Georgia Tech for their
championship Monday.
Taurasi led the Huskies with 17
points. She hit 6 of 11 shots, 3 of 7
from three-point range. Several of her
baskets came when the Vols were cut
ting into UConn's lead.
But this was neither a one-woman
show nor an easy victory. Ann
Strother and Jessica Moore each
scored 14 for UConn. Barbara Turner
and Moore had nine rebounds apiece.
And Tennessee, down 30-13 after 14
minutes fought back with an 11-0 run
to close to 30-24 at the half and bat
tled to the end.
"These guys are amazing," Taurasi
said of her teammates. "Anything you
ask them to do, they'll do it. When
people think of Connecticut basket
ball, they think domination."
Taurasi, named MVP of the Final
Four, then celebrated by booting a
basketball soccer-style into the capac
ity crowd of 18,211.
"If Diana did not play the game the
way she does, there is no way her
teammates would have been able to
do what they did tonight," UConn
coach Gino Auriemma said.
Coach Pat Summitt's Lady Vols did
n't give up and used their rebounding
edge to keep the game close. Shanna
Zolman, who led all scorers with 19
points, led a rally that cut tire lead to
50-48 after Brittany Jackson hit a
three-pointer with 10 minutes left.
Moore, Strother and Taurasi then j
slowly built back the lead.
The victory produced some stag
gering statistics that back up
Taurasi's contention about Husky
domination. I
UConn improved to 5-0 in NCAA
championship games, 4-0 against
Tennessee. Only Tennessee has more j
titles with six, and it also is the only
other school with three straight— j
1996, '97 and '98.
UConn won its 18th straight NCAA
playoff game and improved to 13-6
all-time vs. Tennessee.
UConn has a 98-5 record in its last
103 games and a 176-9 record since
the start of the 1999-2000 season.
"It wasn't easy, but it showed we
have character," Taurasi said. "It's
amazing. This isn't just for us. It's for
everyone associated with our program
and our families and fans."
(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Beckett, Choi pace Marlins
Offseason acquisition Hee
Seop Choi drove in the go
ahead run in the eighth for
Florida's 4-3 win Tuesday
By Clark Spencer
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
MIAMI — Jeffrey Loria was so full
of nervous energy that when he un
veiled the new World Series banner he
thought for a moment he would "pull
down the wall" to which it is affixed.
The Florida Marlins' owner was giddi
er still after his team put the exclama
tion point on opening day, downing
the Montreal Expos in front of a
record crowd at Pro Player Stadium.
"I'm jumping for Choi," Loria said,
crafting an appropriate pun to express
his joy.
Hee Seop Choi quickly ingratiated
himself to his new Marlins teammates
— not to mention Tuesday's crowd of
55,315 — in a 4-3 victory over the Ex
pos. The first baseman accounted for
three of the runs with a towering
home run and a ground ball that was
hit just hard enough to drive in the
go-ahead run in the eighth.
World Series MVP Josh Beckett did
n't do too badly himself, pitching in
April as he did in October when last
the Marlins baseball story left off.
Beckett set down 16 of the first 18 bat
ters he faced Tuesday before giving up
a run in the sixth. Going into that
frame, Beckett had given up two runs
in his previous 30 innings dating to
last year's postseason.
Every Marlins starter, including
Beckett but excluding Luis Castillo,
had at least one hit.
And even though the bullpen was
shaky, with the Expos tying the score
off reliever Chad Fox and Jose Vidro
belting a two-out homer off closer Ar
mando Benitez in the ninth, there
were minor successes, such as Matt
Perisho retiring the only hitter he
faced to end the eighth and Benitez
getting Orlando Cabrera to foul out
weakly for the final out.
"All these guys are going to give you
a scare once in awhile," said manager
Jack McKeon, who didn't take long to
light up his first victory cigar. "But get
ting the results is what is important."
With a World Series title to cele
brate and glorify, the Marlins had no
trouble filling up the vast majority of
seats. The crowd was the largest for a
regular-season game at Pro Player Sta
dium, and it was treated to the same
peck-and-grind style of baseball that
produced so many wins last season.
Beckett did his part.
Though he gave up a run in the
sixth, he avoided further damage
when he struck out Cabrera and Brad
Wilkerson with two men on and one
out. And he struck out Peter Berg
eron to end the seventh, stranding
two runners.
"He's a big-time pitcher now,"
McKeon said. "There were a couple of
situations when he had to get tough,
and he did."
(c) 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
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