It’s a Double Dose of UConn for Southland

The best team in women’s college basketball is in Southern California for the weekend, looking to escape the snow and cold of Connecticut and play a little basketball as well.

Diana Taurasi, a two-time All-American and reigning Division I player of the year, and her team, two-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut, will put their 4-0 record and unanimous No. 1 ranking on the line tonight against Pepperdine and Sunday afternoon against USC.

Both the Waves and Trojans have had a week to prepare for the Huskies. And each is coming off a big loss to a ranked team. Pepperdine (2-2) lost to No. 19 Oklahoma, 95-77, Saturday in the final of the Waves’ Turkey Shoot-out tournament. The Trojans lost to No. 11 Minnesota, 84-61, Saturday at the Junkanoo Jam tournament in the Bahamas.

Both teams were routed last season at Connecticut, USC by 68-44, Pepperdine by 109-48.

This time, there are lessons to learn.

“People think of UConn in terms of their offense. But that’s not what they base their game on. It’s defense,” Gobrecht said. “That was a lot to handle, people with that intensity and strength. They were very physical and that caught us off guard. I thought we competed, but we just couldn’t score.”

Said Trakh: “People can say they have the best players and, of course, they have good players. But Geno [Auriemma] is also the best coach in the country. He gets them all to fit into a system and they execute it beautifully.”