The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Big East Notebook: Women

Is everyone tired of hearing about Connecticut yet?

Until someone proves a challenge for this dominant Connecticut team, your eardrums will be ringing with the Huskies.

Never has a team dismantled its opponents the way Connecticut does. Never has a team ripped through the Big East Conference the way Connecticut did. Simply put: never has a team been this good.

Geno Auriemma's Connecticut Huskies did the improbable and are heading into March unscathed, boasting a 30-0 overall record, and a 16-0 mark in Big East play.

The Huskies have now won their 17th Big East regular season crown and third straight, including 15 of the last 17 seasons overall.

"It means a lot," junior center Tina Charles said in a Big East press release. "It shows our hard work and determination. It is the same focus that we have had all season."

Connecticut is 9-0 at home in the XL Center, which brings about the next scary thought: the XL Center is hosting the Big East Tournament this year.

Charity dive

While the DePaul Blue Demons were heating up for March Madness, its coach, Doug Bruno, was cooling down at Chicago's North Avenue Beach on Sunday.

Bruno participated in the ninth annual Chicago Polar Plunge Sunday morning – a fundraiser for the Chicago Special Olympics. He has been involved with the Special Olympics as both a coach and a volunteer since the 1970's, but he had never taken it to the extreme of plunging into bitter-cold Lake Michigan.

"The concept is simple," Bruno said in university press release. "When you work with athletes like I do every day that have been blessed with such physical and mental attributes — it is something that is a gift — a gift from God, and those physical and mental attributes should never be taken for granted."

Player of the week

It's an old myth that when thunder booms and lightning strikes, angels are bowling in the skies above.

When double-doubles are booming and Louisville is striking, senior forward Angel McCoughtry is dominating on the court below.

McCoughtry finished the week averaging 27 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, as the Cardinals toppled Villanova, Pittsburgh and Marquette to capture the Big East's second seed.

McCoughtry put up an impressive 22 points and seven rebounds against the Panthers and went off for 34 points and nine rebounds against the Wildcats.

For the week, she shot 46.6 percent from the field and 88.6 percent from 3-point land.

A look ahead

The Big East Tournament will take place from March 6-10 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Yes, that's right, the home floor of the undefeated Connecticut Huskies, who are 9-0 there this year.

Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Villanova are the top four teams, respectively, and received double byes into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

"We have a lot of work to do," McCoughtry said in a Big East press release. "Because everything after this is one-and-done, and we don't want to be a one-and-done… This isn't the end. This is the beginning for us."

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