With the weather being so pleasant up here with all the snow on the ground, I’m sure Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team wishes they could stay in Cancun for a little longer. But unfortunately for them the Caribbean Classic has come to a close and they now get to head home for the holidays.
UConn heads home for the holidays happy though as they were able to get past a feisty Florida State Seminoles team 83-71 to win the Caribbean Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
The win for the Huskies is their 10th of the season and it’s the 3rd straight time and 10th time in the last 13 seasons they have opened up 10-0.
Renee Montgomery overcame her recent shooting struggles to lead the Huskies with 25 points, including 7 three-pointers and had 8 assists. Maya Moore had another good all around game as she had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots while Kaili McLaren kept up her good play with 10 points and 7 assists. Tina Charles spent most of the game in foul trouble and finished with 8 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Tanae Davis-Cain led the Seminoles (9-4) with 25 points and added 6 rebounds. Courtney Ward chipped in with 14 points and 6 assists while Alysha Harvin had 11 points.
UConn got off to a 13-0 lead to start the game as they forced the Seminoles into 7 turnovers but Florida State battled back with a 10-4 run. UConn pushed the lead to 12 points and Florida State would get no closer than 10 points in the first half.
It was more of the same in the second half as every time Florida State got the lead back to 1o or 12 points, the Huskies would respond going up by as many as 20 points before settling for the 12 point win. Over the last 15 minutes of the game, the Seminoles actually outscored UConn 71-70.
Auriemma has given his team the week off and they will meet up in South Carolina on the 26th to prepare for their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks on December 28th. This will serve as Kalana Greene’s homecoming game which is something that Geno likes to do for all of his players when possible.
Notes and musings:
Florida State Seminoles vs UConn Huskies Caribbean Classic 12.21.08 box score
The starters were the usual suspects of Renee Montgomery, Caroline Doty, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
Kudos to CPTV for bringing us two of the three games from the Caribbean Classic in Cancun. Great job in keeping the fans in Connecticut and on Hoop Streams happy.
Former Husky Paige Sauer and Hartford Courant scribe John Altavilla helped out on the broadcast this afternoon.
Meghan Gardler was back in uniform for the Huskies after being cleared by the team doctor before the game.
With the win today, UConn has won 12 straight in-season tournaments. The last time that UConn failed to claim an in-season tournament title came back during the 1992-93 when it dropped a game to Vanderbilt on Dec. 29, 1992 at the Hilton Head (S.C.) Super Shootout.
Connecticut has won 96 consecutive games against non-ranked opponents and now has a 25-game winning streak in non-conference games.
UConn has now made a 3-pointer in 228 straight games.
The Huskies shot 51.5% (35-68) in the game while FSU shot 44.4% (24-54).
They also had a season-high 31 assists on their 35 made baskets.
UConn only got to the charity stripe 7 times making 4 of them while FSU got to the line 20 times making 14.
The Huskies won the battle of the boards 36-34.
UConn forced 16 turnovers turning them into 17 points while FSU converted just 8 UConn turnovers into 12 points.
The Huskies outscored FSU 42-16 in the paint and 12-4 on the fast break.
The Seminoles bench outscored UConn’s 27-17.
