Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma envisions sophomore Diana Taurasi developing into as dominant a guard in women’s basketball as Magic Johnson was in the men’s game.
Taurasi and backcourt mate Sue Bird compete Sunday night against Oklahoma’s three-guard lineup of Stacey Dales, LaNeishea Caufield and Rosalind Ross for the women’s NCAA championship.
Taurasi, who found her way to UConn from Chino, Calif., has a 14.5-point scoring average and a flair for flashy passes and long-range baskets. She will try to help the No. 1-ranked Huskies finish a perfect season with a 39-0 record.
“I have a kid who has a chance to become the best guard, maybe the best player ever,” Auriemma said. “I wonder how Jud Heathcote would have felt if Magic decided to play two more years at Michigan State.
“I’m walking a fine line here. There’s so much I want to teach her in the next two years, [but] I don’t want to take away any of her exuberance or flair or spirit.
“If I do it right and she does it right, she’s going to be the best player ever. If it doesn’t happen, it will be because she did it wrong,” Auriemma added, smiling.
Taurasi, Connecticut’s only non-senior starter, hopes to emulate Bird, who was the national player of the year despite a modest 14.4 scoring average.
“Sue could have averaged 25 points a game easily, but that’s not her game,” Taurasi said. “She distributes the ball and makes all the rest of us better. She’s unselfish.”
Taurasi and Bird start with a front line of three 6-foot-2-inch seniors: Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams.
Oklahoma uses a three-guard lineup, which could create matchup problems.
Caufield, at 5-9, likely will guard the 5-9 Bird. Dales, at 6 feet the tallest of the Oklahoma guards, probably will guard Cash. This leaves the 5-9 Ross, who scored 26 in the semifinal victory over Duke, against the 6-foot Taurasi.
“Sue Bird and I are similar,” Dales said. “We’re both very good leaders. Both of us have a flair for the game. We’re passionate about the game. We love to pass the ball and make our team better.
“But I won’t guard Sue. LaNeishea Caufield has quicker hands, so she will. I’ll guard Williams or Cash, probably Cash.”
It’s a matter of pick your poison for Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale.
“One of my guards is going to have to guard one of their 6-2 players in the post,” she said, “but that means one of their big players will have to chase one of my guards on the perimeter.
“Taurasi said she might post up more than usual against a 5-9 defender, but we’ll basically just stick to our regular offense.”
Coale said the matchup of guards should provide “lots of fun” for the Alamodome crowd.
“We both like an up-tempo game,” Coale said. “We apply defensive pressure and force a lot of turnovers. If we’re allowed to flow in tempo, it can be a great, great game.”
Connecticut is an overwhelming favorite, and the players haven’t lost sight of the opportunity they have to accomplish something special. Auriemma won’t let them.
“He has tied this game into the Alamo,” Williams said. “He has used words like `victory’ and `death’ and `Remember the Alamo.’ He gets me going with it.”
