Montgomery finally earns her chance at the title

ST. LOUIS - With UConn just two seconds away from victory, UConn's senior guard Renee Montgomery received a big embrace from coach Geno Auriemma on the sideline. After the game, Auriemma said he wanted Montgomery, UConn's senior captain, to end her career the same way that former UConn stars Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi did - with a National Championship.

It took her four years to get here, with multiple setbacks along the way, but Montgomery will finally get that chance to play for the National Championship Tuesday.

"I said to Renee, I wanted you to play in your last game of your college career to be the last game [the national championship]," Auriemma said. "And this is the first time that she's had to do that, and I'm really happy for her, as I am for everybody else on our team."

UConn's senior point guard and captain did everything possible to ensure the Huskies would not lose in the national semifinal game to Stanford for the second year in a row, turning in her best performance of the tournament to push UConn to the 83-64 win.

Montgomery spoke after the game about how she uses every practice to prepare herself for moments like Sunday night, something Auriemma has paid attention to all year.

"I don't think there was a drill this year at any one time that I can remember where she didn't treat that drill like it was for the national championship," Auriemma said. "Every dribble move, every coming off a screen, you know, every single thing that she did was at that level every day. And when you do that, as she said, you expect to be in this position."

The practicing appears to have paid off in 2009's Final Four. Montgomery dominated each of the 35 minutes she played in Sunday's semifinal game, finishing with 26 points, six assists and four steals - all game highs. To get there, Montgomery attacked Stanford with her arsenal of 3-pointers, dribble-drives and pull-up jumpers in the lane. She also shot 50 percent from the field (11-for-22) and turned the ball over just once, a marked improvement from one year ago.

In the 2008 Final Four game, an 82-73 loss to the Cardinal, Montgomery finished with 15 points. She struggled to find her shot in that game, however, making just four of her 18 shots from the field and recording just one assist all night.

While that loss was the most recent for Montgomery, she said she thought back to all of the previous losses she had endured in the NCAA Tournament. She and the Huskies suffered losses to Duke in the 2006 Elite Eight, LSU in the 2007 Elite Eight and Stanford in the 2008 Final Four. Each one cut short her chance to play for the championship and each one helped her to push that much harder to make sure this year would not end with the same disappointment.

"But I think back to when we lost to Duke and LSU, you don't forget losses," Montgomery said. "Stanford was the most fresh loss, but you just think back to all the years where you fell short, and you just push yourself harder because you know you need that extra 2 percent in the Final Four."

Montgomery, UConn's unquestioned team leader throughout the 38-0 season, hasn't been alone in the team's success. She has helped elevate the play of her teammates as well, according to sophomore forward Maya Moore.

"It feels great, just to know that even when I make a crazy decision or throw up a horrible shot I know Renee's going to come back the next time and make something good happen," Moore said. "She definitely - her presence on the court gives us confidence, and when she comes in and plays like herself, is patient, aggressive, attacks the hole, everybody, just lifts everybody."

Teammate Kalana Greene, who was part of the same incoming class as Montgomery, said that it is important for this year's group to finally get a chance to play for the National Championship.

"We've been through a lot," Greene said. "Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year - people all said, 'You haven't been to the Final Four, and when you did get to the Final Four, you couldn't take care of business.'"

Now this year's group will have the chance to take care of business Tuesday night against Louisville, much of that thanks to their senior captain and leader.