Absolute perfection: Colony graduate reflects on UConn's championship season

In only her first season playing basketball at the highest collegiate level with the most prestigious women's program in the country, Jessica Moore has already reached the pinnacle of college basketball.

Moore was a member of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team that garnered a perfect 39-0 record and a national championship with an 82-70 win over Oklahoma March 31 in the NCAA Division I women's championship game in San Antonio, Texas.

"It was an unbelievable experience," Moore said. "It was one of my all-time goals -- to achieve it by my first year was a great experience."

Moore graduated from Colony High School in 2000, where she earned Alaska high school girls' basketball player of the year honors in 1999 and 2000.

The national championship was actually Moore's second as a member of the Huskies. She redshirted last year as Connecticut won the national title, learning the ropes of college basketball without using a year of eligibility.

To say that Connecticut was dominant this year may be an understatement. With a record-setting 35.4-point average margin of victory in games this season, the Huskies have already been mentioned as perhaps the greatest women's basketball team ever assembled.

As a 19-year-old redshirt freshman this year, Moore played a supporting role among a strong corps of seniors on the Huskies' team, coming off the bench to provide a spark for the team when needed.

"We had plenty of scorers on the team so my job was to play defense and get rebounds," Moore said.

Moore played 11 minutes in the championship game, scoring two points, with one blocked shot and one rebound.

She said that next year the Huskies will have several new players coming to the team, and expects to start and play a significant role in the team's pursuit of another national championship.

At 6 feet 4 inches tall, Moore played the center position this year. She said she will probably move to forward next year, but said the move won't be difficult because of Connecticut's style of play.

"We move around so much that positions are not that important," Moore said.

She said making the adjustment from high school basketball in Alaska to the national spotlight at the University of Connecticut was not as difficult mentally as it was physically.

"The hardest adjustment was getting used to the fast pace and stronger players," Moore said. "The mental adjustment was not bad -- you just have to stay focused the entire time."

As a two-time high school player of the year and two-time NCAA national champion, Moore is in a position to offer advice to those high school players wishing to make the jump to the collegiate level.

"You have to work hard, especially in the summer," she said. "You also can't just play basketball in Alaska. You have to go out and play in tournaments in the Lower 48 and be seen."

After a perfect season and the national championship, which has only been matched three other times in NCAA women's basketball history, Moore said the goal of the team is to repeat next year as champions.

"We are losing a lot of players and will have a young team, but we have big plans," Moore said. "It never stops -- we are always doing something to get better."