Tina Charles came to the No. 1/1 UConn Huskies wanting to be the best center that’s ever played there. And now after breaking Rebecca Lobo’s career-rebounding and Nykesha Sales’ career-scoring record, she may just be the best center to play at UConn.
Charles led five Huskies players in double figures with 18 points as they rolled to an easy 76-51 win over the No. 8/6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in front of 9,149 at the Joyce Center in South Bend, IN and a nationally-televised audience on ESPN2.
It’s the 69th consecutive win, one short of their own record of 70 straight wins, for the Huskies who finish the regular season at 30-0 (16-0 Big East). The Fighting Irish fall to 25-4 (12-4 Big East). The Huskies will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big East Tournament while the Fighting Irish will be the 5th seed.
Charles also pulled down eight rebounds. Maya Moore had 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and five steals. Tiffany Hayes added 13 points while Kalana Greene had 12 points and nine rebounds. Caroline Doty rounded out the Huskies in double digits with 11 points.
Becca Bruszewski and Devereaux Peters led the way for the Fighting Irish with 15 points. Peters led the Irish with seven rebounds.
The Huskies raced out to 6-0 lead before the Irish rallied to tie it up on a Lindsey Schrader layup. The Huskies scored the next five points forcing Notre Dame to call a timeout. UConn would take a 16-10 lead before the Irish would cut it down to one at 16-15.
That’s as close as the Irish would get though as the Huskies used a 10-0 run to open up an 11 point lead. UConn’s lead would just continue to grow from there.
They opened up the half on a 8-2 run and after a Skylar Diggins free throw cut the lead to 46-32, UConn used a 13-0 run to make sure that the Irish had no chance of coming back.
This is the second time this season and eighth straight time the Huskies have beat the Fighting Irish.
UConn will now get break until Sunday when they’ll open up play in the Big East Tournament and go for the record-tying 70th win. Their opponent is yet to be determined but they will play at 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3.1.10 box score
The Huskies shot 55.6% (30-of-54) from the floor while the Irish shot 31.1% (19-of-61).
UConn had 24 assists on their 30 made baskets.
The Huskies shot only 58.8% (10-of-17) from the free throw line.
UConn won the battle of the boards 41-35.
Both teams scored 30 points in the paint.
UConn had 13 points off of 13 Notre Dame turnovers. The Irish had 10 points off of 15 UConn turnovers.
The Huskies outscored the Irish 12-2 on the fast break.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:
– With its 30-0 regular season record, Connecticut has posted back-to-back undefeated regular seasons for the second time in the program’s history – doing so in 2002 and 2003.
– Tonight’s win extends UConn’s current winning streak to 69 straight games – one shy of the NCAA Division I record of 70 set by Connecticut from 2001-03.
– UConn wraps up a perfect 30-0 regular season for the second straight season and finished without a loss in the regular season for the sixth time in the program’s history – by far the most in NCAA history.
– UConn posts a perfect 16-0 BIG EAST record for the second straight season and the eighth time in the program’s history.
– UConn moves to a perfect 11-0 against ranked opponents in 2009-10 following tonight’s win at No. 6/8 Notre Dame.
– UConn leads the all-time series with Notre Dame 24-4 and has won the last eight meetings in the series.
– UConn has won 148 of its last 155 BIG EAST Conference regular season games.
– UConn is a perfect 12-0 in “true” road games this season and has won each of its last 26 straight.
– UConn has won each of its last 18 BIG EAST Conference road games in the regular season following tonight’s win over No. 6/8 Notre Dame.
– Tonight’s victory clinches UConn’s fifth consecutive and the 15th 30-win season in program history – and 15th in the last 17 seasons overall.
– UConn is 12-2 all-time when playing on ESPN’s “Big Monday” including a perfect 3-0 mark in 2009-10.
– Tonight’s game marked the third time this season UConn has posted a 2-0 mark when playing two ranked opponents in a 48-hour span.
– UConn is a perfect 12-0 against teams ranked in the top-10 nationally over its current 69-game winning streak – following tonight’s win over No. 6/8 Notre Dame.
– UConn improves to 261-11 when playing as the top ranked team in the Associated Press poll.
– UConn moves to 152-53 all-time against ranked opponents and 35-20 on the road against ranked foes.
– UConn boasts a record of 70-36 all-time against opponents ranked among the top-10 nationally.
– UConn has won 74 consecutive games against BIG EAST opponents in the regular season other than Rutgers.
– UConn owns a mark of 92-18 in nationally-televised contests since 2001-02, including a perfect 9-0 record in 2009-10.
– UConn held Notre Dame scoreless for the opening 3:05 of the contest. – Notre Dame’s 23 first-half points 28th time in 30 games this season that UConn has limited its opponent to less than 27 points in the first half.
– Tonight’s crowd of 9,149 marked Notre Dame’s sixth sellout this season.
– Tina Charles’ 18 points and eight rebounds allowed her to become UConn’s all-time leader in both categories with her current career totals of 2,184 points and 1,273 rebounds.
– Kalana Greene’s 12 points marked her 68th with double-figure points in her career, her 20th this season and the 14th in the last 17 games overall.
– Maya Moore’s 17 points marks her 29th game with double-figure points this season and her 103rd in 107 career games.
– Tiffany Hayes’ 13 points marks her third straight game with double-figure points and her 17th this season.
– Caroline Doty’s 11 points her 11th game with double-figure points this season and the 17th of her career.
– UConn had five players register double-figure points for the sixth time this season.
