In one of the ugliest tournament finals in the history of the universe, UConn won the Big East.

Both teams looked exhausted; neither could shoot straight. The Huskies scored the first eight, then got steadily more confused by WVU's zone, tossing up low-percentage shots early in the clock. West Virginia got good looks but couldn't connect.

Ann Strother finally took over a big game, scoring nine in a row (20 overall) to give UConn a late cushion. The Mountaineers came back once more, making it 45-44, but free throws from Strother and Thomas sealed the win.

Geno: "Everything is a struggle. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. For 15 years, we've been living a life of all things look great, and now it's a struggle."

Barbara Turner on WVU: "Some 12 seed. They were fighting for their lives. They had a lot of motivation. You have to take your hats off to them.”

WVU's Cinderella moment is over: their reg-season record is probably bad enough that they needed to win the tourney for an NCAA bid.

You might call the rock-bottom score (25% and 35% shooting, 11% and 17% from downtown) an effect of four games in four nights (West Virginia) or three in three (UConn).

And yet... UCLA and Stanford had played three games in three nights, too, and Monday's Pac-10 final looked rather different. Maybe it's the water in Hartford?