Connecticut-Wis.-Green Bay Preview

3/19/2007 11:09 AM

By DAN PIERINGER
STATS Writer

Connecticut looks to advance to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament for the 14th straight season when it takes on No. 9 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay on Tuesday in a second-round matchup at Hartford, Conn.

The top-seeded Huskies (30-3) have not been eliminated from the tournament before the round of 16 since 1993, when they lost their opener to Louisville. They avoided that fate Sunday by beating No. 16 seed Maryland-Baltimore County 82-33.

Renee Montgomery led five Huskies in double figures with 19 points as Connecticut shot 59.6 percent from the field.

"When it looks good, it looks really good," coach Geno Auriemma said.

Charde Houston had 15 points and six rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting for the Huskies, and is averaging 14.0 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 53.1 percent from the field over her last four contests.

"I think she's played as well as anybody," Auriemma said. "I think she is off to a great start now, but her practices have been like this for a long time and she's calm and she's treating the tournament like it's another game and she's ready to play. I like where she is right now."

Houston and the Huskies, though, will have their hands full with a Wisconsin-Green Bay team that has the second-longest active win streak in Division I.

The Phoenix (29-3) extended their run to 26 games with a 59-52 win over No. 8 seed New Mexico on Sunday. They haven't lost since a 71-70 defeat to DePaul on Nov. 29.

Wisconsin-Green Bay's win streak includes a perfect mark in the Horizon League. The Phoenix went 19-0 against conference opponents to win both the regular-season title and the Horizon League tournament.

"While we're playing we don't think about (the win streak)," said senior guard Amanda Popp, who scored 14 points Sunday. "We take it one game at a time trying to get the next one. It didn't matter how many wins we had in a row or how many losses. We're just always trying to win the next one."

The next one will be a challenge, as the Phoenix face a Connecticut team that has won four NCAA titles in the last seven years while going 33-3 in NCAA tournament games during that stretch. The Huskies lost in the regional finals last season.

Wisconsin-Green Bay was eliminated in the first round of its last NCAA tournament appearance in 2005, and has never advanced to the round of 16.

This is the first meeting between these teams, and the winner will move on to the Fresno Regional semifinals to face No. 4 seed North Carolina State or fifth-seeded Baylor.