Jamelle Elliott had spent the past 17 years in Storrs, CT as player and as a coach. When she had an opportunity to take a head coaching job, she took it with the Cincinnati Bearcats. And when the schedule came out, she knew it was going to be an emotional game since it was on UConn’s home floor.
In the past, Cincinnati knew it was probably going to get spanked when it played UConn. But this wasn’t going to happen under Elliott’s watch. And it showed on Thursday night at Gampel Pavilion.
The Bearcats started strong then faded then was strong again but ultimately tired out as the Huskies spoiled her return home on Thursday night 83-51 behind 25 points by Maya Moore.
It’s the 53rd straight win for the Huskies who improve to 14-0 (3-0 in the Big East). Elliott’s Bearcats fall to 7-7 (0-2).
The big blow for the Huskies came early in the first half when sophomore point guard Tiffany Hayes sprained her left ankle and left the game with just two points in two minutes of action. She’s listed as questionable for UConn’s next game on Saturday.
All eleven Huskies scored as Moore also had eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Tina Charles added 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and six blocks. Caroline Doty rounded out the Huskies in double digits with 11 points.
Shareese Ulis led the Bearcats with 19 points. Cincinnati’s leading scorer Kahla Roudebush finished with 11 points. She came in averaging 16.3 points.
Probably to the shock of the 7,530 fans at Gampel Pavilion who may have been expecting a blowout despite Elliott’s presence, the Bearcats kept it close for the six minutes of the game as they trailed just 16-10. Then the Huskies turned it on as they went on a 13-2 run to up by 17 at 29-12.
The lead swelled to 26 when the Huskies went on a 13-4 run on their way to a 52-26 lead at the break.
The second half saw Geno Auriemma take it easy on his protege as he pulled the starters early in the second half. But when they allowed the Bearcats to cut a 29 point lead into a 16 point lead, he put the starters back in for a few minutes.
A 10-0 run made sure the Bearcats would get no closer the rest of the way.
With just one day off before the North Carolina Tar Heels come to Gampel Pavilion on Saturday, I highly doubt we’ll see Hayes play in that one. Hopefully what we’ll see is Lorin Dixon have a career game like she did last year against the Heels.
The game on Saturday will start at 4 p.m. and will be nationally televised on CBS.
Notes and musings:
Cincinnati Bearcats @ UConn Huskies 1.7.10 box score
The starters were Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
UConn shot 29-of-51 (56.9%) from the floor while the Bearcats shot 21-of-61 (34.4%).
The Huskies had 23 assists on their 29 made baskets.
UConn won the battle of the boards 38-25.
Both teams committed 17 turnovers. UConn turned those into 25 points while Cincinnati was able to get just 12.
The Huskies outscored the Bearcats 40-12 in the paint.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:
Tina Charles’ 17 points moved her into seventh place on UConn’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Svetlana Abrosimova’s 1,865 career tally. Charles’ current total is 1,877.
With the win, UConn opens 14-0 for the third straight time and the eighth time since 1994-95.
The Huskies have a 53 consecutive regular-season game winning streak that dates back to a 73-71 loss at Rutgers on Feb. 5, 2008.
After tonight’s win, UConn has won 26 of its last BIG EAST regular season games.UConn has won each of its 53 consecutive games by double-digits, an NCAA record.
UConn extended its home-court winning streak to 49 straight games, the nation’s longest active streak.
UConn improves to 245-11 playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
UConn moves to 219-83 in games played in the month of January.
UConn improves to 293-11 all-time on its home courts since the 1993-94 season.
With tonight’s victory, UConn extends its winning streak at Gampel Pavilion to 35 games.
UConn improves to 5-0 all-time in the series with Cincinnati, while tonight marked the Bearcats first ever appearance at Gampel Pavilion.
The Huskies have won 80 games in which they scored at least 80 points dating back to the 2005 season.
UConn has won 12 of its 14 games this season by a minimum of 25 points and has won its last 53 contests by a minimum of 10 points – an NCAA record.
UConn is 149-2 in its last 151 BIG EAST home games.
The Huskies boast a 335-8 mark in games aired on CPTV in the last 14+ seasons.
UConn extends its streak of games without back-to-back losses to 591 consecutive games.
UConn is 261-3 in its last 264 games (dating back to Jan. 31, 1999) overall against opponents not ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 poll.
Five UConn players contributed to the Huskies first 12 points of tonight’s contest.
UConn used a 21-5 run in a span of 6:54 in the first half led by Tina Charles with eight points on a 4-of-4 shooting performance from the floor.
UConn outscored Cincinnati 14-0 in the paint during the opening 8:21. In the first half, the Huskies outscored the Bearcats in the key 22-6.
The Huskies have limited their opponents to no more than 27 points in the opening half in 12 of 14 games this season.
UConn has scored 50 or more points in the first half in seven of its first 14 games this season.
Cincinnati opened the second half with a 13-6 run to cut the lead to 20 at 59-39 at the 11:56 mark.
UConn put together a 13-0 run of its own during a span of 3:49 in the second frame to extend its lead to 29 (75-46) as Maya Moore scored seven of the Huskies’ 13 points.
Maya Moore’s 25 points marked her 14th game this season in double-figure scoring, while she recorded her 37th career game with 20+ points, including the eighth this season. It was also the 89th time in 91 career games that she has scored in double-figures.
Tina Charles’ 17 points marked her 97th game in double-figure points.
Caroline Doty’s 11 points marked her 13th career game in double-figures and her seventh this season.
