We all know how good the No. 1/1 UConn Huskies women’s basketball team is on the offensive end of the floor. And tonight they showed why they are one of the best defensive teams in the country holding the Providence Friars scoreless for the first 9:22 of the second half.
Maya Moore led five players in double figures with 16 points as the Huskies rolled to a 75-39 win over the Friars in Providence.
The Huskies move to 26-0 (12-0 Big East) while the Friars drop to 9-16 (3-9).
Moore also had 9 rebounds, playing just 21 minutes tonight. Tiffany Hayes continued her excellent play as she had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Another solid game for Tina Charles as well as she finished with 14 points and 6 boards while Renee Montgomery had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Kaili McLaren came off the bench to round out the Huskies in double digits with 10 points and added 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Friars were led by Chandler McCabe’s 8 points. Chelsea Marandola added 7 points and Ashley Etheridge had 6 points in just 3 minutes of action.
This game was pretty much over when the Huskies scored the first 11 points of the game. UConn continued to pour it on as it took Providence nearly 13 minutes to score over 10 points as UConn held a 30-11 lead. Things got ugly for the Huskies though closing out the half as they missed their 14-of-16 shots. UConn held a 39-18 lead at the break despite the missed and also committed 9 turnovers.
If there was any chance of a Providence come back in the second, the Huskies made sure all that talk was put to rest as they opened up the second half with a 25-0 run. McCabe ended that with 10:38 left to go in the game with a three-pointer as UConn was leading 64-21. Providence only made 7 baskets in the second half with 6 of them being three-pointers.
While this game wasn’t expected to be close, the play of the Huskies at the end of the first half was a little disconcerting. But as all good coaches do, Geno Auriemma sent them a message and the Huskies responded and oh boy did they respond. It was good to see Kaili have a good game off the bench as the Huskies will need her should Charles get in foul trouble.
The Huskies are back in action on Sunday when the No. 24/24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish come to the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 2 PM and the game will be shown on ESPNU.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Providence Friars 2.18.09 women’s basketball box score
The starters were Renee Montgomery, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
UConn now has won 34 consecutive regular season games.
Maya Moore has now scored in double figures 27 straight times.
This was the 12th time this season that 5 Huskies scored in double figures.
Tina Charles moved past Tamika Williams (18th place) and into a tie with Chris Gedney for 17th place on the UConn career scoring list with her current total of 1,409.
UConn had 14 steals in the game.
