Maya Moore led the No. 1 UConn Huskies with a double-double this afternoon as they struggled to an 82-71 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in front of 8,871 at Gampel Pavilion.
Moore had a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead 5 Huskies in double figures. Tina Charles had 15 points and 8 rebounds while Renee Montgomery also had 15 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. Caroline Doty had 13 points in her Huskies debut and Kalana Greene scored 11 points and added 3 steals in her return to action.
Mo Bennett paced the Yellow Jackets with 19 points while Jacqua Williams had 14 and 6 assists. Alex Montgomery (no relation to Renee) chipped in with 12 points and Iasia Hemingway rounded out the Yellow Jackets players in double figures with 10 points.
The Huskies got out to a 4-0 lead before falling behind 7-5. The Huskies regained the lead on an old fashioned 3 point play by Montgomery before Tech retook the lead. UConn would build up their lead to 9 points at 19-10 before the Yellow Jackets would battle back to tie the score at 34 heading into the locker room.
UConn started off the second half with a 13-4 run to take a 9 point lead. They would push their lead to 11 and then the Yellow Jackets cut UConn’s lead to 3 at 67-64. The Huskies would increase their lead to 15 points but Tech would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
It was not the effort we expected from the Huskies as they were sloppy at times and may have thought it would have been a cake walk. Well the opposite happened but the Huskies did what good teams do, they perservered on defense. They always say the best offense is a good defense and that was the case for UConn in the second half.
Next up for the Huskies is San Diego State on Thursday night at the XL Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 PM.
Notes and musings:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ UConn Huskies 11.16.08 box score
The starters were Renee Montgomery, Caroline Doty, Maya Moore, Kalana Greene and Tina Charles.
The 1994-95 Championship team was honored at halftime as they were placed in the “Huskies of Honor”. I’ll have video up in the morning.
Tina Charles became the 31st player in UConn women’s basketball history to score a 1,000 points in their career.
UConn has won 85 of its last 87 regular season games at Gampel Pavilion.
Renee Montgomery made her 100th consecutive start and the 110th of her career-both totals are the highest in the nation.
Maya Moore’s double-double was the 12th of her career.
UConn improves to 30-5 all-time in home openers, including a 23-1 mark under Geno Auriemma. The only loss during Auriemma’s tenure was on November 29, 1990 against Iowa (58-41).
The Huskies have won 18 straight home openers following tonight’s win.
UConn extends its current regular-season home winning streak to 25 consecutive games. UConn has won 212 straight home games vs. non-ranked opponents. UConn has won 88 straight games overall vs. non-ranked opponents.
