STORRS, Conn. -- Second-ranked Connecticut was off to a quick start
against Rutgers in the Big East semifinal game Monday night
when a major winter storm nearly gummed up the works.
|  | | The hero of the night at the Big East tournament was engineer Bill Sehl, who was hoisted to the roof to fix a leak that delayed play 90 minutes.
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Play was delayed 90 minutes to repair Gampel Pavilion's roof
after it sprung a leak with 3:13 left in the first half with UConn
leading 41-20.
But the Huskies didn't miss a beat when they returned and posted
a 94-66 victory to advance to their eighth consecutive Big East tournament
title game.
The top spot in the nation is at stake when UConn takes on No. 1
Notre Dame in the final Tuesday.
Swin Cash led UConn with 20 points, and Diana Taurasi added 17.
"I told the players that's probably the best we've played the
whole 40 minutes in a long time," coach Geno Auriemma said.
Actually, the entire game took more than three hours. The
Huskies watched the movie, "The Kings of Comedy" in the interim
and planned to spend the night in Gampel because of the storm.
"It gave us something to do," said Shea Ralph, who had a
team-high seven rebounds. "We were laughing and staying awake. Our
spirit was high in the locker room and it was our job to make it
stay that way."
UConn used its quick transition game and dominating post play to
built a 26-3 run in the first 10 minutes. Forwards Cash and Asjha
Jones combined for 19 points in the run.
"We were getting a lot of one-on-one in the lane and that's why we
wanted to get the ball inside," Cash said.
The Huskies had a 23-6 rebounding edge and a 50-23 lead going
into the break.
"They have tremendous talent and depth," Rutgers coach C.
Vivian Stringer said. "Sometimes Connecticut is just that great
and they make you look bad."
Tasha Pointer led Rutgers (22-7; No. 9 ESPN/USA Today; No. 8 Associated Press) with 18 points.
UConn played without point guard Sue Bird, who sat out with back
spasms.
The championship game is the second meeting this season between
UConn and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish beat UConn 92-76 in South
Bend on Jan. 15.
About 5,000 fans braved the elements, despite an earlier plea
from Gov. John G. Rowland to stay off the roads.
"It was so amazing to me," Cash said of the fan turnout. "We
wanted to come out and let them know that we heard them tonight."
One of the loudest cheers went up for Bill Sehl, the building
engineer who was hoisted 100 feet inside the arena to fix the leak.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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