There will come a time when one of UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma’s ex-players or assistant coaches beats his team. Unfortunately for Temple Owls second year head coach Tonya Cardoza, Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament wasn’t the time.
The Huskies shot an absurd 78% in the first half that helped them to a 90-36 win over the Owls in front of 4,832 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, VA.
It’s the 74th straight win for the Huskies (35-0) and it came on Auriemma’s 56th birthday. The Owls finish up their season at 25-9.
Maya Moore had a perfect night as she was 6-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from three-point land, and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line to finish with 19 points. She also had five rebounds and three assists. Kelly Faris came off the bench to get her first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite being double-teamed for most of the game, Tina Charles had 12 points and six rebounds. Tiffany Hayes added 11 points, Caroline Doty had nine points and Meghan Gardler had eight. The only one who didn’t score was Jacquie Fernandes.
Shaqwedia Wallace was the only member of the Owls in double figures with 12 points. Marli Bennett chipped in with nine points and Jasmine Stone added seven points and eight rebounds.
This game was pretty much over from the start as Moore opened up with two straight threes. Temple got on the board with a Bennett three-pointer but the Huskies went on a 27-2 run over the next eight minutes to open up a 33-5 lead.
A Kristen McCarthy basket with 7:25 to go in the first half made it 35-11 but that would be the final time the Owls would score a field goal in the half. The Huskies closed out the half on a 20-1 run to open up 55-12 lead.
Auriemma pulled his starters with 14:48 to go and the Huskies up by 48 at 68-20. The UConn bench outscored Temple 22-16 the rest of the way.
This was the best first half of basketball UConn has played in a while. And if they continue to do that the rest of the tournament, there will be no stopping them.
The Huskies now will head to Dayton, OH for the Sweet 16 on Sunday. They’ll take on the winner of the Green Bay/Iowa State game that’s currently being played.
Notes and musings:
Temple Owls vs UConn Huskies 2nd Round NCAA Women’s Tournament 3.23.10 box score
The starters were Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
The Huskies ended up shooting 61.8% (34-of-55) from the floor while the Owls shot 23.3% (14-of-60).
UConn had 22 assists on their 34 made baskets.
The Huskies shot 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the free throw line.
UConn was 12-of-17 (70.6%) from three-point land.
The Huskies outrebounded the Owls 47-27 and outscored them 28-16 in the paint.
UConn had 15 points on 22 Owls turnovers. The Owls had 12 points on 15 Huskies turnovers.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Huskies Sports Information Department:
– With tonight’s second round NCAA win over Temple, Connecticut advances to the “Sweet Sixteen” for the 17th straight season.
– Connecticut will meet the winner of the second round game between No. 4 seed Iowa State and No. 12 seed UW-Green Bay on Sunday, March 28 in the Dayton Regional Semifinals at the University of Dayton Arena.
– UConn moves to 73-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and has won each of its last eight games in NCAA play.
– UConn reaches 35 wins for the third consecutive season and the seventh time in the program’s history – this marks the first time that Connecticut has notched 35 wins in three consecutive seasons.
– With tonight’s win, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma moves to 8-1 all-time in games played on his birthday (March 23).
– UConn has gone on to win the NCAA National Championship four times (1995, 2002, 2003, 2004) when it has won on Geno Auriemma’s birthday (March 23).
– UConn has gone on to advance to the NCAA Final Four in each of the previous seven seasons in which it has won on head coach Geno Auriemma’s birthday (March 23).
– UConn first half field goal percentage of .778 (21-of-27) was its best mark in any half this season and its highest percentage in any half since shooting .806 (25-of-31) against St. John’s on Feb. 23, 2001 in the second half.
– UConn moves to 18-2 all-time in NCAA second round action following tonight’s win over Temple.
– UConn is 1-2 all-time vs. Temple following tonight’s win and a perfect 1-0 vs. the Owls since Geno Auriemma has taken over the reigns as Connecticut head coach.
– UConn improves to 57-11 all-time when receiving an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
– UConn improves to 55-7 all-time when earning a No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament.
– UConn has won 27 of its last 29 games it has played when it has earned a No. 1 seed.
– UConn is 48-5 in NCAA Tournament action since 2000 following tonight’s win over Temple.
– UConn extended its NCAA-record winning streak to 74 consecutive games following tonight’s NCAA second round win over Temple.
– UConn’s 2010 Senior Class boasts an overall mark of 142-6 during their career in Storrs.
– UConn has won each of its last 136 games against non-ranked opponents – dating back to Dec. 21, 2004 when it lost at Arizona State.
– UConn improves to 267-11 all-time when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
– UConn opened up tonight’s contest shooting 8-of-9 (.889) from the field, including a 3-of-3 showing from behind the arc, to take a commanding 19-5 lead in the first 6:07.
– UConn opened the game by making its first five 3-point field goal attempts.
– Maya Moore scored each of Connecticut’s first eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
– UConn went on a 33-5 run in the opening 10:47 to take a 28-point lead.
– UConn closed out the first half with a 20-1 run over the final 7:02 before intermission.
– UConn held Temple without a field goal for the final 7:25 of the first half.
– UConn missed a total of six shots in the first half (21-of-27) while Temple managed to make just five shots (5-of-32) in the opening frame.
– UConn’s 55 points in the first half marked the 12th time this season the Huskies have tallied at least 50 points in the opening 20 minutes.
– Temple’s 12 first half points ties the fifth lowest allowed in a half in an NCAA first or second round game.
– UConn has won its last 91 consecutive games in which it has scored at least 80 points.
– UConn scored more points in the first half (55) than Temple scored for the entire game (36) – marking the 28th time the Huskies have posted more points in the first half than their opponents have managed for the entire game during the current 74-game winning streak.
– Kalana Greene’s six points moves her into 19th place among UConn’s career scoring leaders with her current total of 1,411 as she surpassed Chris Gedney (1,409) in tonight’s contest.
– The Huskies have gone 225 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to shoot more than .500 from the field. Boston College was the last opponent to post a shooting percentage more than .500, coming on March 8, 2004.
– Kelly Faris’13 points marked her second game with double-figures points this season.
– Kelly Faris’ 13 points and 10 rebounds marked her first career double-double.
– Kelly Faris’ 10 rebounds marked her first career game with double-figure rebounds.
– Kalana Greene’s six points marked her 24th game this season in double-digit scoring and the 72nd of her career.
– Maya Moore’s 19 points marked her 34th game with double-figure points this season and her 108th in 112 career games.
– Maya Moore finished tonight’s game 6-of-6 from the floor, including a 3-of-3 performance from behind the arc, and was 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
– Maya Moore’s 19 points marked her 19th straight game with double-figure points and her 12th in 13 career NCAA Tournament games.
– Tina Charles 12 points marked her seventh straight game with double-figure points and her 33rd this season.
– Tiffany Hayes 11 points marked her 20th game with double-figure points this season and her fourth in an NCAA Tournament game.
– Maya Moore’s 19 points marked her 45th career game with 20 or more points and her 14th this season.
– UConn’s 90 total points marked the eighth game this season that the Huskies have registered 90 or more points.
