Freshman sensation Maya Moore led three Huskies in double figures with 31 points as the UConn women easily defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders 91-36 at Gampel Pavilion.
Moore scored 22 of her 31 points in the 1st half while adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. She was 14 of 16 from the floor. The remarkable part about her stats is that her 31 points came in just 19 minutes of action. Tina Charles had 13 points while Renee Montgomery rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points. She also added a game-high 8 assists. Laura Aloisi was the only Holy Cross player in double figures with 10 points. Bethany O’Dell chipped in with 7 points for the Crusaders.
This was another game that was pretty much over when the ball went up into the air. The Huskies started the game off with a 11-2 run that ended on a Moore layup. After Aloisi hit a 3-pointer for the Crusaders, Moore scored the next 8 points in the game to push the lead up to 19-5. After that, the Huskies continued to pull away as they took a 47-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
More of the same for the Huskies in the second half. After scoring the last four points of the first half, the Huskies started out the second half with seven straight points to increase their lead to 34 points. Moore scored her 30th and 31st points of the night at the 11:48 mark and that was the last of her playing time as head coach Geno Auriemma took her out of the game, 3 points shy of Charles freshman scoring record of 34 points in a game. After Moore left the game, the Huskies would only put up 12 more points but at this point it didn’t matter as all of the bench came in to see some playing time.
Moore is the real deal and tonight she showed it once again. A lot of her points came on the fast break as she simply out ran the Holy Cross players down the floor and her teammates rewarded her for that. There was one play in the second half where Moore got burned on defense only to recover to block the shot. Folks, it’s going to be a fun four years but forgot the future, the present is now.
UConn next returns to action next Thursday on Thanksgiving evening as they take on #7 Stanford in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tipoff will be 8:30 PM and you can catch all the action on CPTV.
Notes and Observations:
The starting five was Montgomery, Thomas, Charles, Greene and Houston.
Charde Houston returned to the floor after missing the first game with the flu and a lower back issue.
Maya Moore’s halftime stats: 22 points on 11/12 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Moore is the first freshman to score at least 20 points in her first two games and also the first freshman in double figures since Cash. Her 55 points in her first two collegiate games is also a freshman record at UConn.
Mel Thomas had 9 points tonight on 3 of 9 shooting.
Kalana Greene pulled down a game-high 8 rebounds.
The Huskies forced Holy Cross into 27 turnovers and scored 33 points off those turnovers.
UConn received 3 letters-of-intent today for the 2008-09 season. Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty and Heather Buck all faxed theirs in today. Elena Delle Donne will send hers in on Monday when her Ursuline Academy team gets back from a retreat.
This was the 15th straight win for the Huskies over Holy Cross.
