Well it wasn’t the prettiest of games for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team but with the pressure on, they got the job done.
After trailing 20-12 at the half, the Huskies responded with 41 second-half points and withstood a late Stanford Cardinal charge to win 53-47 and win their second straight NCAA Women’s National Championship.
The Huskies, who finish 39-0 for the second straight season, have now won seven national titles in seven tries in the title game. It’s also the fourth time, they’ve finished the season undefeated.The Cardinal finish the season at 36-2 with both losses coming to the Huskies.
Maya Moore, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Women’s Tournament, had 17 of her 23 points in the second half. She also pulled down 11 rebounds. Tina Charles finished up her career at UConn with nine points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Caroline Doty added eight points, Tiffany Hayes had seven points and Kalana Greene wrapped up her five years in Storrs with six points and five rebounds.
The unsung hero of the game for me was Kelly Faris, who didn’t score a point in 25 minutes, but pulled down seven boards and was spectacular on the defensive end.
Kayla Pederson paced the Cardinal with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Nnemkadi Oguwumike added 11 points and 13 rebounds while Jeanette Pohlen had 11 points.
Jayne Appel wrapped her Stanford career on a sour note as she went 0-for-12 from the floor but pulled down seven rebounds. It was clear that her ankle was a problem for her and it didn’t help that she reinjured it again during the game.
The Huskies got out to a 5-2 lead and then went ice cold from the floor as the Cardinal went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-5 lead with 11:48 to go in the half. With both teams shooting poorly from the floor, the score remained 12-5 until a Moore layup with 7:22 to go made it 12-7.
UConn went over ten minutes without a basket and missed 16 straight shots before Moore’s layup.
The closest the Huskies would get the rest of the half was six points at 15-9 as the Cardinal would take a 20-12 at the break.
The 12 points by the Huskies was tied for their worst performance in school history. The Huskies shot 17.2% (5-of-29) in the half while the Cardinal weren’t much better at 25.8% (8-of-31).
It was a totally different second half as the Huskies came out firing behind Moore and turned their defensive pressure up to another level.
The Huskies started out the half scoring 17 of the first 19 points to take a 29-22 lead. A JJ Hones three-pointer cut the lead to 29-25 but a 7-2 run by Charles made it 36-27.
The Cardinal got no closer than five points the rest of the way as the Huskies only made 9-of-22 free throws and the Cardinal got a few timely three-pointers.
For the first time in the 78 game winning streak the Huskies were really challenged and had to respond to pressure. They may have lost the streak of winning by double digits but they played like a championship team should, at least in the second half.
And now for a seventh time, Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies women’s basketball program can call themselves champions and as fans of this team, we should be proud of what they accomplished on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies vs Stanford Cardinal 2010 Women’s National Championship box score
The starters for the final time were Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
The Huskies shot 32.8% (19-of-58) from the floor while the Cardinal shot 26.5% (18-of-68).
UConn had nine assists on their 19 made baskets.
The Huskies were 6-of-20 (30%) from 3-point land while the Cardinal were 8-of-22 (36.4%).
UConn was 9-of-22 (40.9%) from the free throw line.
Both teams finished with 49 rebounds and 16 points in the paint.
The Huskies had 16 points off of 11 Stanford turnovers. The Cardinal had six points off ten UConn turnovers.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:
– UConn wins the seventh NCAA National Championship in the program’s history following tonight’s win over Stanford – and its second consecutive.
– UConn becomes the first team in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to post back-to-back undefeated seasons.
– Maya Moore was named the 2010 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, while Tina Charles joined her on the All-Tournament Team. Stanford’s Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen as well as Oklahoma’s Danielle Robinson were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
– UConn is a perfect 7-0 in NCAA National Championship Games following tonight’s win over Stanford.
– UConn extends its NCAA record winning streak to 78 consecutive games.
– UConn improves to 14-4 all-time in NCAA Final Four games (combined semifinals and finals).
– UConn moves to a perfect 4-0 at San Antonio’s Alamodome in NCAA Final Four play – the Huskies also captured the 2002 title in San Antonio.
– UConn’s perfect 39-0 record marks the fourth perfect season in the program’s history (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010).
– UConn is 6-5 all-time against Stanford and has won each of the last three meetings.
– UConn is 3-2 all-time against Stanford in NCAA Tournament games.
– UConn moves to 6-2 all-time against Pacific-10 opponents in NCAA Tournament games.
– UConn improves to 77-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and has won each of its last 12.
– UComm moves to 61-11 all-time when it earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
– UConn moves to 59-7 all-time when it earns a No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament.
– UConn boasts an all-time mark of 52-5 in the NCAA Tournament since the 2000 season and has captured a total of six NCAA National Championships in the span.
– UConn improves to 270-11 when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
– The 2010 UConn senior class closes out its career with an overall mark of 146-6 and a pair of NCAA National Titles.
– UConn improves to 158-53 vs. ranked opponents and a perfect 17-0 in 2009-10.
– After opening the game with a 5-0 advantage, Stanford went on a 12-0 run in a span of 5:46.
– The Huskies were held without a point for a span of 10:37 in the first half as Stanford went on a 12-0 run.
– UConn opened the first half 2-of-20 (.100) from the field.
– The 18-9 Stanford lead at the 5:36 mark of the first half marked the largest deficit for the Huskies all season.
– UConn shot 5-of-29 (.172) from the field, including a 2-of-12 (.167) clip from behind the arc in the first half.
– UConn’s 12 first-half points marks the fewest number of points scored by UConn in the first frame in school history.
– UConn’s 12 first-half points ties the fewest points in any half in program history – 12 second-half points vs. Rutgers (2/27/06).
– UConn’s .172 (5-of-29) shooting percentage in the first 20 minutes of tonight’s contest marked its lowest of the season in any half.
– UConn opened the second half with a 17-2 run in a span of 7:05 to take a 29-22 lead.
– UConn outscored Stanford 41-27 in the second half.
– UConn’s nine-point deficit in the first half marked the largest UConn has faced in its 78-game winning streak.
– UConn overcame a nine-point deficit to win tonight’s game, marking the biggest comeback for the Huskies since being down 14 points against Rutgers on April 1, 2008 in the NCAA Greensboro Regional final.
– The Huskies have gone 229 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to shoot more than .500 from the field. Boston College was the last opponent to post a shooting percentage more than .500, coming on March 8, 2004.
– Maya Moore’s 23 points moves her past Diana Taurasi (2,156) into fourth place on the UConn all-time scoring list with a current total of 2,168.
– Maya Moore’s 23 points marked her 38th game with double-figure points this season and her 112th in 116 career games.
– Maya Moore’s 23 points marked her 23rd straight game with double-figure points and her 16th in 17 career NCAA Tournament games.
– Maya Moore’s 23 points marked her 12th game with 20 or more points in an NCAA Tournament (17 career NCAA Tournament games).
– Maya Moore’s 23 points and 11 rebounds marked her 41st career double-double and her 14th this season.
– Tina Charles 11 rebounds marked her 60th game with double-figure rebounds and her 15th this season.
– Maya Moore has registered double-figure points in each of her last 13 NCAA Tournament games.
