It was the UConn Huskies first test on the road against the No. 11/12 Florida State Seminoles on Monday night.
It may not have been pretty or what Geno Auriemma wanted from his team but they passed the test as a strong second half propelled them to a 78-59 win in front of record crowd of 6,440 at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, FL.
The Huskies, who won their 50th straight game, improve to 11-0 while the Seminoles fall to 11-2. Both of Florida State’s losses have come to Big East teams (DePaul was the other).
After a first half that saw her parked on the bench by Auriemma, Tina Charles came to play in the second half. She responded to the benching by Auriemma by scoring 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. Charles also pulled down nine rebounds.
Despite a poor night from the floor (7-of-18), Maya Moore finished with 16 points and had five rebounds and three assists. Tiffany Hayes added 13 points and Caroline Doty had 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists. Kalana Greene had good game all around as she had 8 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Jacinta Moore led the Seminoles with 14 points and also had six rebounds. Chasity Clayton chipped in with 12 points and Courtney Ward had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before the Seminoles responded with a 9-0 run. Not to be outdone, UConn made up the deficit quickly as they went on a 17-0 run of their own to take a 12 point lead.
Florida State chipped away at the Huskies lead and got it down two points at 31-29 on a Ward jumper with 4:26 to go in the half. That would be as close as the Seminoles would get though as UConn took a 41-35 lead into the locker rooms and never looked back.
The Huskies opened up a 10 point lead early on in the second half and an 12-3 run that saw Charles score 12 of the points opened up a 17 point lead for the Huskies.
Not the best effort from the Huskies but in the second half when they turned it on, they looked as good as they have all season. It’s amazing how much of a factor that Charles can be when she wants and that was the point Auriemma wanted to make with his senior center. She proved that point and then some.
“When she brings it, we’re a whole other team,” said Moore. “She steps up and takes ownership of the paint. It really sparked us in the second half.”
The Huskies stay on the road for their next game as they will open up Big East play on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center against the Seton Hall Pirates. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Florida State Seminoles 12.28.09 box score
The starters were Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
The Huskies shot 45.2% (33-of-73) while Florida State shot 37.3% (22-of-59).
UConn had 21 assists on their 33 made baskets.
The Huskies were 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line.
UConn won the battle of the boards 41-38.
The Huskies had 12 turnovers and converted 21 FSU turnovers into 26 points.
UConn outscored FSU 46-20 in the paint.
The rest of the game notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department
– Tonight’s game against No. 12/11 Florida State marked UConn’s second straight against a ranked opponent.
– UConn improves to a perfect 3-0 this season against ranked foes.
– UConn extends its current winning streak to 50 consecutive games following tonight’s win over FSU.
– UConn has now won each of its last 21 games away from home.
– UConn improves to 31-13 all-time against opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
– UConn improves to a perfect 5-0 all-time against Florida State.
– UConn moves to 89-9 on the road since February 1, 2001.
– UConn boasts an all-time record of 144-53 all-time against opponents ranked in the Associated Press poll.
– Tonight’s win marked the 799th all-time in the history of the Connecticut women’s basketball program.
– UConn improves to 243-11 when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press poll.
– UConn moves its all-time mark in December to 166-54 and has won each of its last 28 games during the final month of the calendar year.
– UConn moves to a perfect 11-0 for the fourth straight season and the 11th time since 1996-97.
– Florida State’s 9-4 lead at 17:41 marked UConn’s largest deficit this season.
– UConn followed that five-point deficit with a 17-0 run over the next 4:41 to take a 21-9 lead.
– Maya Moore’s 16 points marked her 22nd game with double-figure points and her 85th in 88 career games.
– UConn’s .417 (15-of-36) field goal percentage in the first half marked the first time UConn has shot below .500 in a first half this season.
– Tina Charles’ 24 points marked her 10th game with double-figure points this season and the 94th of her career.
– Tiffany Hayes’ 13 points marked her fourth straight game with double-figure points and her eighth this season.
– Tina Charles’ 24 points marked her fourth game this season with 20 or more points and the 21st of her career.
– Lorin Dixon played 11 minutes – her most action since playing 16 minutes against Arizona State on March 31, 2009.
– Caroline Doty’s 10 points marked her sixth game with double-figure points this season and the 12th of her career.
– UConn has won each of its games during its current 50-game winning streak by a margin of at least 10 points – an NCAA record.
– Tonight marked the first time in this season that UConn has failed to reach 80 points (78 against Florida State).
