Svetlana Abrosimova, left, and Shea Ralph lead the Huskies' offense.

The sophomore forward for top-ranked Connecticut spent six hours on Saturday having her hair meticulously braided. She said she's not out to make a fashion statement. She just wants few distractions as UConn (30-1) tries to win its second national title.

"I won't have to do my hair during the tournament. I'll be a little more focused," she said Sunday.

UConn will host the first two rounds of the tournament and takes on No. 16 seed Hampton on Friday. The Lady Pirates (16-14) won the Mid-Eastern Athletic title Saturday and are in their first NCAA Tournament since joining Division I in 1995.

The other first round game pits No. 8 seeded Drake (23-6) and No. 9 seeded Clemson (18-11), also on Friday. The first-round winners will play Sunday, and the winner will advance to the East regionals at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

There are no rematches for the Huskies in their bracket. The No. 2 seed is Duke.

During the six hours of hair care, Williams, the Big East tournament MVP, watched a lot of basketball and a lot of upsets as the men's conference tournaments wrapped up.

"You know anything can happen," she said. "You just have to go up and play every night."

She led UConn to its seventh straight Big East tournament title last week, scoring 40 points in three games from her power forward position.

Coach Geno Auriemma was heartened that for the first in a long while, he's got a healthy squad. Williams was out nearly six weeks with a stress fracture in her left foot.

But he's not taking anything for granted, either.

"There are uncontrollables in the tournament," said Auriemma. "Any team that wins the tournament has to feel they got a break. I'm like everyone else, I've got my fingers crossed."

But he did allow himself to peek ahead at the possibility of playing in the final four in Philadelphia. Auriemma grew up just outside of Philly.

"The fact that it is in Philadelphia makes it special," he said. "It also brings more pressure. Now we have a chance to win the national championship ... in front of my family and friends."

Junior forward Shea Ralph had a few reasons to celebrate on Sunday. The brackets were drawn on her 22nds birthday.

"I'm old," deadpanned Ralph, who was red-shirted her sophomore year due to a knee injury.

Her hard driving layups and tenacious defense all year have given some opposing coaches a few gray hairs.