The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Brittany Hunter recently worked her way back into the starting line-up after being held back by a knee injury.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Sidelined for most of the season with a serious knee injury and to only a few limited minutes in games she would otherwise be playing throughout, senior Brittany Hunter had many reasons to be down during the regular season.

Not come tournament time.

In the last three games, Hunter has redeemed herself, regaining her role as the Huskies' starting center all while playing through the pain of a lingering knee injury. She has put up at least 10 points in each of the Huskies' three NCAA Tournament games and has added to an already deep roster of post players.

She showed again Sunday why head coach Geno Auriemma's decision to start her instead of UConn's regular starting center, Tina Charles, was a wise one, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and adding three assists in the Huskies' 78-63 win over Old Dominion in the Greensboro Regionals.

"It was kind of like a pressure-type thing. Coach [Auriemma] just said, 'You're going to start. Don't make me look bad,'" Hunter said. "I just had to be confident in front of my teammates and I couldn't look around for anyone else to help me out. It was an ideal situation."

It's been Hunter's play that has been more than ideal. Depth has been an issue for the Huskies this season, as losing Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene early in the season has limited the options in the backcourt. Hunter's day-to-day status has further complicated things, her injury has limited the number of minutes she can play, making games where she exhibits her talent and post-prowess few and far between.

"This year, we've had a chance to glimpse a little bit at what Brittany could have been," Auriemma said. "She's just playing with a sense of purpose right now."

Hunter - who hasn't practiced since the second-round win over Texas, doing only cardio work and ice to rehab her knee - has played 13 minutes in each tournament game. The last time she played for that long was a 14-minute effort at Pittsburgh on Feb. 17.

To Hunter, it's not the amount of minutes she plays but the things she does in that time that might go unnoticed that matter.

Continued...

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