In a season dominated by bigs, there’s a new kid on the block: Christ the King’s Tina Charles. The freshman center is coming into her own, her 34 points and 17 boards nearly single-handedly carrying UConn to the regular-season Big East title with an 81-67 win over Southern Florida.
The 6-4 Charles' 34 points were the most by a UConn player since Diana Taurasi scored 35 in 2003 against Texas Christian and the most by a UConn freshman. Charles' 17 rebounds gave her 238 for the season, breaking Svetlana Abrosimova's freshman total of 235.
So far this month, she’s averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds, including a 20-point, 14-rebound performance against No. 19 Marquette, 15 and 10 against No. 21 Rutgers and 17 and 9 against No. 7 LSU, which boasts 6-6 force of nature Sylvia Fowles at center.
Fowles is among a group of versatile and athletic bigs who are changing the way the game is played inside the paint. Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, 6-4, with a streak of 53 double-doubles, is a candidate for player of the year as just a sophomore. Duke would not be No. 1 and undefeated without Alison Bales’ 6-7 swats to lead the nation in blocks. Michigan State freshman Alyssa DeHaan, at 6-9, is threatening to pick up where the senior Bales will leave off. And then there’s the 6-4 Candace Parker, who can play any position for Tennessee and recently went off for 27 points and 13 rebounds against Fowles’ defense-minded Tigers. Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport, a 5-5 senior, averages 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Charles has picked the right time to peak. The Huskies have just moved to No. 3 in the AP poll and are looking for a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. This is the first time since 1997 and the 6-7 Kara Wolters that UConn has the services of a legitimate center. And the five-time champs haven’t cut down the net in the final game since Taurasi graduated in 2004.
Still, the former two-time NY state champ can’t taste it yet. The youngster says the upperclassmen are hungrier.
"I think to them it's going to be way bigger than how it is to us [freshmen]," Charles said in The Hartford Courant. "Probably next year I'll know the feeling."