There’s just something that gets Maya Moore going when her UConn Huskies team takes on the Syracuse Orange. Last year, Moore put up a career-high 40 points in UConn’s big win.
And on Wednesday night, she added a career-high of 21 rebounds to go along with a season-high 38 points as the No. 1 Huskies easily dispatched of the Orange 87-66 in front of 3,320 at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night.
It’s the 67th straight win for the Huskies who improve to 28-0 (14-0 Big East). More importantly, the Huskies clinch at least a share of the Big East title. The Orange fall to 19-8 (6-8 Big East).
Moore also added three assists, three steals and two blocked shots in 32 minutes. Tiffany Hayes had a great game with 22 points. Tina Charles, who is chasing down Nykesha Sales as the all-time leader in scoring at UConn, finished with just three points and four rebounds but did block five shots.
Juanita Ward, Erica Morrow and Elashier Hall each scored 11 points to lead the Orange. Coincidentally, Morrow, who is the second leading scorer for the Cuse, was ejected for fighting with 12 minutes left to go in the game after throwing a punch a Hayes in a loose ball scramble.
The Huskies raced out to a 9-3 lead before the first media timeout. Then Hayes took over for UConn as she scored 10 straight points while the Orange managed just six to open up a 10 point lead at 19-9.
The Orange didn’t quit though as they used a 10-4 run to get the lead down to four at 23-19. From that point forward though, it was all Huskies as 7-2 run put them back up by nine points. The Huskies would close out the half on a 15-6 run to take a 49-33 lead at the break.
Syracuse wouldn’t get any closer than 14 points during the second half which all saw UConn’s lead swell as high as 30 points.
It will be an emotional day on Saturday when the Georgetown Hoyas come to the XL Center for a Big East matchup. The five UConn seniors, Charles, Kalana Greene, Meghan Gardler, Kaili McLaren and Jacquie Fernandes will all be honored before the game. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised in Connecticut on CPTV.
The senior day festivities will kick-off at 11:30 a.m. and they also will be broadcast on CPTV.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Syracuse Orange 2.24.10 box score
The starters were Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
The Huskies shot 45.8% (27-of-59) from the floor while the Orange shot 36.8% (25-of-68).
UConn had 16 assists on their 27 made baskets.
The Huskies were 26-of-33 (78.8%) from the free throw line, including Moore who went 10-of-11.
UConn shot 38.9% (7-of-18) from three point land.
The Huskies dominated the glass outrebounding the Orange 50-30.
UConn outscored Syracuse 34-26 in the paint.
The Huskies had 15 points off of nine Orange turnovers. Syracuse had 15 points off of 15 UConn turnovers.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:
– Maya Moore’s 38 points and 21 rebounds marked only the second time in UConn history that a player has registered 30-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in the same game – joining Rebecca Lobo who tallied 32 points and 21 rebounds at Boston College on Feb. 16, 1994.
– UConn extends its current winning streak to 67 consecutive games – second-longest in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history.
– UConn moves to a perfect 11-0 in “true” road games this season and has won its last 26 “true” road games in a row.
– UConn has won each of its last 17 BIG EAST Conference regular-season road games following tonight’s win at Syracuse.
– UConn has won each of its last 134 games against non-ranked opponents.
– UConn moves to a perfect 28-0 to start a season for the second consecutive time and the sixth time in the program’s history.
– UConn opens BIG EAST play a perfect 13-0 for the second straight season and the eighth time in the program’s history.
– UConn leads the all-time series with Syracuse 32-12 and has won each of the last 18 meetings in the series.
– UConn has won 146 of its last 154 games against BIG EAST opponents in the regular season following tonight’s win over Syracuse.
– UConn improves to 98-9 in “true” road games dating back to Feb. 2001.
– UConn improves to 260-11 when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press Top-25.
– UConn improves to 199-97 in games played during the month of February and has won each of its last 21 consecutive games played during the calendar’s second month.
– Tiffany Hayes 22 points marked her 15th game with double-figure points this season and the 32nd of her career.
– Tiffany Hayes opened the game by scoring 12 of Connecticut’s first 19 points – while shooting 5-of-7 from the field.
– Maya Moore’s 38 points marks her 12th consecutive game with double-figure points and her 101st in 105 career games.
– UConn trailed for a total of 35 seconds in the first half.
– UConn never trailed beyond the 17:45 mark of the first half.
– Tiffany Hayes scored 19 of her 22 points in the opening 20 minutes.
– Maya Moore tallied 18 points and 14 rebounds in the first half – clinching her team-leading 10th double-double of the season in the initial 20 minutes.
– Maya Moore’s 38 points marked the highest single-game total by a UConn player this season.
– Maya Moore’s 38 points marked her 14th game with 20 or more points this season and the 43rd of her career.
– Maya Moore’s 38 points mark her fourth career game with 30 points or more.
– Tiffany Hayes’ 22 points marked her third game this season with 20 or more points and her second in the last three games.
– UConn has won every game this season by a minimum of 12 points and each game of its current 67-game winning streak by a minimum margin of 10 points.
– UConn has won its last 88 games in a row in which it has scored a minimum of 80 points.
– Maya Moore has scored a combined 78 points/39.0 avg. points per game in her last two games against Syracuse.
– UConn has won each of its last 72 BIG EAST Conference regular season games against opponents other than Rutgers.
