In their last game, Tiffany Hayes went down with a mild concussion after a collision with Maya Moore 46 seconds into the game. And then the Huskies had to play the last five minutes of the first half with Moore in foul trouble. They were able to overcome being shorthanded, something which they were again on Monday night with Samarie Walker back in Storrs for personal reasons.
The good thing though for the Huskies was that Hayes was able to return and boy was it a good thing she did.
Hayes led the way with 29 points as the Huskies rolled to an easy 83-57 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in front of 6,201 and a nationally-televised audience on ESPN2 at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, NC on MLK Day.
No. 2/2 UConn improves to 17-1 while the No. 11/11 Tar Heels drop to 16-2. It’s the third blowout win in as many seasons for the Huskies over North Carolina.
Hayes also had eight rebounds and four assists. Moore added a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. She also had two assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Despite spraining her ankle in the second half, Bria Hartley finished with 11 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Stefanie Dolson rounded out the Huskies in double-digits with 10 points and chipped in with six rebounds and four assists.
The only member of the Tar Heels in double figures was Italee Lucas who had 13 points. Chay Shegog added nine points while Waltiea Rolle had eight points. Laura Broomfield led UNC with seven rebounds.
The Huskies got going quickly in this one as they opened the scoring with the first eight points that were part of a 10-2 run. The Tar Heels didn’t go away though as they wittled down the UConn lead to four at 14-10. With the Huskies up 17-12, they went on a 7-0 run to open up a 12 point lead.
A 9-3 run by the Huskies would open the lead to 16 points at 33-17 on a Hayes jumper. The Tar Heels would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the half or the game for that matter as UConn had to settle for a 12 point lead at 49-37 at the half.
If the Tar Heels had any thoughts of a comeback, the Huskies quickly put those to rest like they’ve done almost all season long. They opened up the second half with a 12-0 run and they never looked back from there.
It was nice to see Hayes shake off the effects of the concussion and help Moore out on the offensive end. And while they were shorthanded without Walker, everyone stepped up to pick up the slack.
The players are back in class tomorrow and will play their next game on Saturday night when the Pittsburgh Panthers come to Gampel Pavilion. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.
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Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ North Carolina Tar Heels 1.17.11 box score
The starters for the Huskies were Bria Hartley, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris, Maya Moore and Stefanie Dolson.
UConn has won their last three games over UNC by a combined 97 points. They beat the Tar Heels last year 88-47 and 88-58 two years ago in a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup.
Samarie Walker missed the game for personal reasons.
North Carolina’s Jessica Breland returned to the Tar Heels this season after missing last season with cancer.
With her 29 points, Tiffany Hayes now has scored 1,007 points in her UConn career.
The Huskies shot 48.5% (32-66) from the floor for the game. UNC shot 30.7% (23-75).
UConn had 23 assists on their 32 made baskets.
The Huskies were just 4-of-14 (28.6%) on three-pointers. The Tar Heels weren’t any better as they were 3-of-18 (16.7%).
UConn was 15-of-18 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.
The Huskies won the battle of the boards 48-40.
UConn outscored UNC 34-26 in the paint and 10-6 on the fast break.
The Tar Heels held an 11-6 advantage on second chance points.
The Huskies had 20 points off of 14 UNC turnovers. The Tar Heels had 12 points off of 16 UConn turnovers.
Photo credit: Michael McAndrews – Hartford Courant (No. 9)
