USA - Moore, Charles become winning combination

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Watching Maya Moore and Tina Charles work in unison in the shadow of the basket, helping to mask the lack of post depth for the undefeated UConn women’s basketball team, it is hard to imagine that there was a time when the duo didn’t quite know what to make of each other.

Charles was the leading scorer and rebounder and Moore was the leader in steals and second in assists on the U.S. team which won the FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women in 2006, but the two were hardly inseparable. They tended to hang in different circles on a clique-driven squad.

However, what happened in Colorado Springs clearly stayed in Colorado Springs. In the last two seasons, Charles and Moore have thrived as teammates at UConn, helping the Huskies to consecutive Final Four appearances and have UConn one win away from completing an undefeated season.

“Chemistry on USA Basketball is different from chemistry on a team where you are competing for six months,” Moore said. “We weren’t as close during those years, because we didn’t know each other. After I got to know her better, spending more time with her, she is a very caring person and loves her teammates and will do anything for her teammates. Once I got to see more of that side of her, it was a lot easier to kind of open up and kind of get close.”

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has seen other teams with as much star power as the Huskies implode because a clash of egos outweighed any collective team goals. That hasn’t been the case on this UConn team, which is just the third squad to have three State Farm All-Americans in Moore, Charles and Renee Montgomery.

“It would be so easy for the three of them to step on each other’s toes, complain they aren’t getting the ball, and be concerned about stats rather than winning,” Auriemma said. “Tina has had to grow up a lot. Whatever happened in Colorado Springs and USA Basketball was more Tina related than Maya related. It would be harder for Tina and Maya to hit it off initially, because Tina is more of a follower and Maya is more of a leader, so Maya is going to go her own way and Tina at that age is going to look with somebody to hang with.

“It wasn’t going to be Maya, because they don’t have a lot in common. Now that they have been here a couple years, they appreciate each other like good teammates should, and there is a tremendous amount of respect there between the two of them. I have seen teams where that was not the case.”

Moore and Charles have spent more time together this season, both on the court and off, and it has been beneficial for both of them.

“I think now that we are together, it really has helped with us spending more time together,” Moore said. “Being a post player, too, I get to relate a little more to her, battling inside and watching how she does things. We have been there for each other off the court. We have taken more of a conscious effort this year to make sure we are doing OK off the court and checking in on each other.

“We are working hard being leaders of our team, taking ownership of our team. Just the more time we get to spend together, it has brought us closer, and I am happy we have been able to maintain the closeness and, hopefully, we will grow even closer next year.”

Charles has brought consistent effort during her junior season, which wasn’t always there in her first two college seasons. Charles gives some of the credit to Moore.

“It (her relationship with Moore) changed a lot,” Charles said. “She is a tremendous player and watching how hard she goes, it makes you want to do the same. She is like the driver of the team.”