While Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have been all the rage in the northeast throughout the fall for their domination of the NFL, Geno Auriemma and the UConn women's basketball team are putting together another run of dominance in the Nutmeg State this winter.
The Huskies, ranked No. 1 in both of the nation's major polls, have won 13 consecutive contests and enter tonight's game on the heels of a 100-50 blowout of the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday afternoon.
West Virginia is playing its second consecutive Big East road game, the first coming in the form of a Saturday night victory at South Florida. Now, the Mountaineers hope to keep their winning ways on the road going for at least one more game.
"The Big East didn’t do us any favors by making our first two conference games on the road," Carey said. "I was very pleased with our players, since we had not played in a while, coming out down at South Florida and playing hard. At least we played hard down there and were able to get the win."
Getting a win at South Florida and doing the same at UConn, however, are two very different animals. The Bulls are good, but UConn is once again looking like a well-oiled machine bound for the Final Four. That being said, Carey and his team aren't making the trip north just to stand in awe of the Huskies.
Having squared off with Auriemma several times over the past few years, West Virginia knows what to expect.
"They’re just very athletic," Carey said. "Big, and strong. They’re just very athletic and have veteran players at every position. They’re just a very good basketball team. Right now, I’d say that they are the best team in the country.
"Our girls have played against them for the last three years," he continued. "I expect us to go up there and be very competitive. I expect us to go up there and compete, and not be intimidated by them. We’re not going up there to be intimidated. We’re going up there to compete and play basketball."