In a matchup of two potential WNBA centers, Connecticut's Tina Charles got the best of North Carolina State's Gillian Goring in Saturday's NCAA Fresno Regional semifinals at the Save Mart Center.

Goring got out to a quick start, as the Wolfpack offense kicked the ball into the post where Goring time and again established great position.

Although, as the game wore on, Goring wore down. And Charles came alive.

"Well, after that first half where Tina dominated the game when she got zero rebounds on both ends of the floor, we thought our strategy would be to see if she could at least get one rebound, do something to help us," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said.

While Charles got going on offense, Goring -- a 6-7 senior from Trinidad who scored 10 first-half points -- was never heard from again as Connecticut used its 2-3 zone to pack down on the player that came into the game averaging 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds.

On offense, Auriemma wanted his team driving right at the biggest player on the court. The aggressive attacks helped Goring lose steam. With 12:19 left in the game, Goring missed a shot in the post and then grimaced as she lumbered down court.

With about five minutes to go, Auriemma called a play for Charles to cut through screens and take root on the right block. Charles did. The result was two points.

Goring grabbed two rebounds and was held scoreless in the second half, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Charles scored 10 second-half points, and grabbed all four of her rebounds after halftime, when the Wolfpack led 37-36. Charles finished with 17 points.

Tears for her coach

North Carolina State's Khadijah Whittington couldn't hold back the tears after after the loss to Connecticut ended her team's quest to reach the Final Four for coach Kay Yow.

Yow has cancer and missed 16 games this season, but her return inspired the team to upsets of No. 1 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina.

"The team took a whole lot of life lessons from this year," Whittington said. "Just having Coach to fight for you and be there with you. So many times when I felt like giving up and thought, 'Coach Yow never gives up.' When we got down today, I looked over at her and knew we wouldn't give up."

Honey, I shrunk the ...

The one thing local fans probably noticed right away when teams took the floor Saturday was how much the court had shrunk.

Connecticut and North Carolina State looked like two WNBA teams going at it.

Most of the players on these four Fresno Regional teams are bigger, stronger, more athletic and can cover the court with greater speed than anything seen in a Fresno State uniform.

Light 'em up

Despite the importance of these regional games, Fresno State didn't shell out for the special backboards with borders that light up when the game clock hits 00:00 and let officials see whether a last-second shot got off in time.

Instead, there are red lights behind the glass in back of the rim for that purpose.

"We'd like the new backboards, but the light in back can be seen and still works just as good," said Sue Donahoe, director of NCAA Division I basketball.

Following the leader

They say Connecticut travels well, especially the media that follows the team.

The Huskies have 38 members of the media covering this regional, and that's about half the normal group, said Fresno State spokesman Steve Weakland.

A local flavor

There are two familiar faces -- Bob Kayajanian and Rick Kolstad -- seated at the scorers table throughout the regional.

Kayajanian will man the scorebook and Kolstad will work the game clock, jobs they performed at Fresno State women's games this season.

No sign language allowed

Because of NCAA mandates, all the advertising signs on the balcony railings and the scoreboard in the arena were covered with black plastic.

This has lent a sterile, but clean look for ESPN's broadcasts of the games. The only signs visible are those of the NCAA and banners along the press tables at courtside that read NCAA Fresno Regional with the names of the four teams.