Long-time nemesis Sylvia Fowles was a favorite of Connecticut basketball fans at least for one day with her MVP performance.

In the end, however, it was a long-time Connecticut nemesis, Sylvia Fowles, who stole the spotlight from her National Team ’mates, scoring 23 points and grabbing eight rebounds to lead Team USA past a team made up of remaining WNBA All-Stars, 88-72, before a sell-out crowd of 9,518 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Fowles, the former LSU star who as a senior embarrassed freshman Charles in the Elite Eight and who currently plays with the Chicago Sky, scored 13 of her points in the decisive first period. Team USA led by 10, 29-19, at the end of one period and increased their advantage to 49-28, at halftime.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

But back to UConn for just a second. Six of the 11 players on yesterday’s National Team roster either played for Auriemma with the Huskies or, in the case of Maya Moore, currently play for the Huskies.

UConn teammates Sue Bird (left) and Diana Taurasi enjoy their time together again on the Team USA bench.

As noted earlier, this event very much as a Homecoming Weekend feel to it.

“They're on this team for a reason,” said Fowles, who shot 9-for-11 from the floor and was named the game’s MVP. “They're great players. They play well together. They have that chemistry. They know what they want and they know how to win. They played for a great coach. Just to be a part of that crew… It makes you feel good because you only want to learn from the best of the best.”

UConn's Maya Moore was the only college player on the court, and she held her own to say the least.

“I think this is a good little preview for her,” said Bird the 2002 Naismith Player of the Year who has since played on WNBA championship and gold-medal-winning US Olympic teams since leaving Storrs. “Pretty soon she's going to be in the WNBA. If anything, it gives you an idea to see what it's like, being on the court, kind of getting used to it.”

Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream, the No. 1 selection in the 2009 WNBA Draft after four All-American seasons at Louisville, rounded out Team USA’s double-digit contributors with 11 points.

Former Sun star Katie Douglas, now with the Indiana Fever, led the WNBA All-Stars with 15 points, followed by Penny Taylor of the Mercury with 12 and Sophia Young of the San Antonio Silver Stars with 10. Former Sun favorite Lindsay Whalen, who led Connecticut to the WNBA Finals in her first two years in the league and who was traded to her home-state Minnesota Lynx prior to this year’s draft in the blockbuster deal that brought Charles and Renee Montgomery to Connecticut, turned in the kind of solid overall performance (eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals) that Sun fans had been accustomed to seeing her turn in.

Team USA dominated every aspect of the game, shooting 56 percent from the floor (42-for-75), dominating the glass by a 39-30 margin, and doling out a collective 32 assists. The WNBA All-Stars shot just 37 percent from the floor (26-for-70) and as a team dished out only 11 assists. The only statistical category won by the WNBA Stars was free-throw shooting, where they outshot Team USA 88.9 percent (16-for-18) to 69.2 percent (9-for-13). It hardly mattered.

Indeed, Connecticut basketball fans saw a far different version of Auriemma on the sidelines Saturday – far more relaxed than they have come to know and love him on the UConn bench.

Geno Auriemma, here giving former pupil Renee Montgomery some pointers, appeared much more laid back coaching the US National Team.

“Yeah,” agreed her once-and-current coach. “It's a much different scenario for me coaching this team than if I was coaching my team at Connecticut. One is the age factor. You generally don't have to say things more than once, twice, and they get it, and then they do it. They're not young kids who don't know what you're saying or why you're saying it. So it's easier to coach them.

“You have Sue [Bird] and Dee [Diana Taurasi] who handle the ball a lot who are very unselfish, and that just kind of trickles down to the rest of the team,” continued Auriemma, who will be working with the National Team today in an exhibition vs. the Australian National Team. “I don't see myself doing a whole lot of yelling and screaming with this team.”

Tina Charles and Angel McCoughtry, the No. 1 picks in the past two WNBA Drafts, congratulate each other with high-fives after the game.

Auriemma, who was presented with the 2010 WNBA Inspiring Coach Award by league president Donna Orender at halftime, was delighted with the overall performance of his team.

“The fact we had 32 assists ... [that] is just an incredible number,” said Auriemma, who will be leading his charges today in an exhibition game vs. the Australian National Team at the Mohegan Sun Arena today as it prepares for the World Championships in the Czech Republic in late September. “To be able to spread the ball around like that, share, make the extra pass—all the things you would want to see a team do.”

As dominant as his team was on Saturday against a team that arguably could be the second-best team in the world, always the coach, Auriemma is leery of getting too excited too early. There are still plenty of obstacles for Team USA to hurdle prior to the World Championships.

“We’re trying to get started on the process,” he explained. “I’ve got players here who may be 11 of the 12 that we take to the Czech Republic. I don’t know that yet, but I do know one thing: The next time I have our whole team is the day of our first game, September 23rd. If the WNBA finals go to the fifth game, the fifth game is September 21st. That means there's a pretty good chance that some of my best players won’t be with me the whole month of September training camp. So not your typical [situation], but it’s what we got. We have to deal with it.”

Smart money sasy that he will.

Sun Spots

Former Sun star Katie Douglas won the three-point-shooting contest.

Bird, Currie and McCoughtry were eliminated from the competition in the first round, which set things up for Douglas, whose 24 points were one point shy of tying a WNBA three-point challenge record.

The second round turned into a win-win for the Mohegan Sun Arena crowd, as finalists Cash (UConn), Douglas and Whalen (also a former Sun star) all had Connecticut ties. Douglas came away with the title with a two round total of 47 points out of a possible 60.

"It's probably my fourth year in the contest and I think I got second my first year," said Douglas, looking back on her past performances. "That was my best finish. Every other year I kind of went downhill."

Renee Montgomery won the skills competition.

The Skills Challenge tests player’s speed, dribbling, passing and shooting skills in a race against the clock. A field of six players completes the course in round one, with the best three times advancing to the final round. Saturday’s field consisted of

Iziane Castro Marques and Angel McCoughtry, both of the Atlanta Dream, the Washington Mystics’ Lindsey Harding, Cappie Pondexter of the New York Liberty, the Minnesota Lynx’s Lindsay Whalen and Montgomery, the former UConn star now with the Connecticut Sun. Castro Marques, McCoughtry and Harding were eliminated after the first round.

In the final round, Pondexter started things off with a 32.1-second performance, followed by Montgomery’s record time. That put all the pressure on Whalen, who played the first six years of her career at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Minnesota star fell short, however, finishing the course in 34.2 seconds, good for third place.

“Maybe I did have a little home-court advantage,” said the affable Montgomery after the competition. “I practice here every day. I don’t know, I think it’s about who hit the shots the quickest that has success.”