The UConn Huskies women's basketball team had never faced the SMU Mustangs before Tuesday night's game. The Mustangs had never faced a No. 1 team before in their history.
The UConn women showed the Mustangs, who were averaging around 70 points a game, what it's like to play the No. 1 team.
Bria Hartley led five players in double figures to help UConn to an easy 102-41 win over SMU in front of 7,839 at Gampel Pavilion.
It's the 30th straight win for the Huskies who improve to 24-0 (11-0 American). The Mustangs fall to 14-8 (5-6).
Hartley paced the Huskies with 21 points while Breanna Stewart had 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Both Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had double-doubles of 16 points and 11 rebounds. KML added a game-high seven assists while Dolson had a game-high five blocked shots.
Moriah Jefferson rounded out the Huskies in double digits with 14 points and had five rebounds with five assists.
The American's leading scorer, Keena Mays, hit her average of 20 points to lead SMU. Akil Simpson, Kiara Perry and Korina Baker all had five points. Perry led the Mustangs with seven rebounds.
The Huskies mushed past the Mustangs out of the starting gate with a 19-0 run over the first five and half minutes of the game to seize complete control. The lead was 35 by halftime and continued to grow from there.
The one concerning thing to me right now is the depth with the injuries.
Hartley picked up two early fouls and went to the bench. With Brianna Banks out after re-spraining her ankle, the only backcourt person was Saniya Chong, who's had an up-and-down freshman campaign.
Chong didn't play too badly scoring seven point and made some smart decisions while leading the offense.
But what happens if they're shorthanded and get in some serious foul trouble. They need to play a little smarter.
There's always a time when a player commits a stupid foul. The first one Hartley had was dumb. In a tighter game, that could have cost her team.
We'll see how "smart" they play their next time out.
The UConn women are back in action on Sunday when they'll "Pink Out" Gampel as the last undefeated team in conference play, besides themselves, in the Louisville Cardinals. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.
SMU Mustangs @ UConn Huskies 2/4/14 box score
Here are UConn's postgame quotes.
Here are UConn's postgame notes.
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photo credit: richard messina – hartford courant
