The No. 1 UConn Huskies finally got underway in the Women’s Big East Tournament this afternoon at the XL Center and had no problems at all as they easily dispatched of the South Florida Bulls 79-42 in front of 9,270 to advance to the semifinals.
The Huskies (31-0) will now take on the Villanova Wildcats tomorrow at 6 PM on ESPNU in the semifinals. South Florida (22-10) must now wait until the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 16th to find out their fate.
Kalana Greene led the Huskies with 20 points (18 in the first half) and 10 rebounds. Two-time conference player of the year Maya Moore also added a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Tina Charles added 15 points and 8 rebounds while Kaili McLaren came off the bench to score 13 points. Renee Montgomery added 5 assists.
The Bulls were led by Janai Stokes’ 15 points. Jasmine Wynee had 9 points and Shantia Grace added 7 points. After hitting 8-three pointers on Saturday, Jazmine Sepulveda was held scoreless.
The Huskies got going quickly this afternoon as they started the game with a 10-0 run. After Brittany Denson made 1-of-2 at the line, UConn followed that up with another 10-0 run that ended when Grace made two free throws. After a mini 5-0 run by the Huskies, the Bulls finally had their first field goal of the half when Porche Grant made a layup to make it 25-5 UConn.
UConn followed that layup with a 13-0 run before Stokes hit a 3-pointer (USF’s second basket of the afternoon) with 4 minutes to go. The Huskies closed out the half on a 9-2 run holding the Bulls scoreless for the final 2:03 of the half.
How bad was it for USF in the first half? They made just 3-of-24 (12.5%) shots and the 10 points were the least amount of points allowed by the Huskies in the Big East Tournament.
It was more of the same for the Huskies in the second half as Geno Auriemma was able to rest his starters for tomorrow night’s game.
Good win for the Huskies today who were obviously looking to make a statement in today’s game. They got great play from Greene and a great game off the bench for McLaren as well.
And by the way, the Huskies have Harry Perretta’s permission to kick the crap out of the Wildcats tomorrow night.
Notes and musings:
South Florida Bulls @ UConn Huskies 3.8.09 women’s basketball box score
The starters were Renee Montgomery, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
This was the 21st straight win for the Huskies in the quarterfinals. Their lost loss in the quarterfinals came against BC in 1988.
During the Geno Auriemma Show today, Geno joked that maybe the Huskies should take one for the league and lose today so USF could get into the NCAA’s. Meghan Culmo then said that Renee Montgomery would never allow it.
Also Villanova head coach Harry Perretta has finally admitted he’s bald. No more comb-over for Perretta.
The Huskies shot 50.0% (30-of-60) in the game while South Florida shot 14-of-49 (28.6%).
UConn had 19 assists on their 30 made baskets.
It wasn’t all pretty for the Huskies as they were just 3-of-16 (18.8%) from behind the three-point line.
The Huskies were 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the free throw line.
UConn won the battle of the boards 51-19.
