A balanced scoring attack by the Huskies, who had four players in double figures, helped them take home the Paradise Jam Championship 74-48 over the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday night at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.
UConn (5-0) was led in scoring tonight by Tina Charles 13 points and 8 rebounds. Tournament MVP Maya Moore had 12 points, and both Kalana Greene and Renee Montgomery had 10 points for the Huskies. Montgomery also added 6 assists.
Duke (5-1) was led by Chante Black who had a game-high 16 points. She was the only Blue Devil in double figures. Careem Gay added 6 points to the cause as well.
The Blue Devils pulled ahead quickly 4-0 before UConn went on a 13-0 run to take the lead led by Montgomery’s two 3-point shots. The Huskies would never look back again as they took advantage of 11 Duke turnovers in the first half, scoring 16 points off of them. UConn went into the locker room up 16 points at 40-24.
More of the same in the second half, as both teams decided to play a game if you score, we can score too. The Huskies continued to pull away from the Blue Devils as they added 12 points off of 11 second half turnovers by the Dukies.
The Huskies now return to the mainland and will probably enjoy a day off before returning to the court for practice on Tuesday. UConn will face BYU on Thursday night at 7:00 PM at the Hartford Civic Center.
Notes and Observations:
The starters were Renee Montgomery, Mel Thomas, Kalana Greene, Brittany Hunter and Tina Charles.
Tonight was the 1,000th game in UConn women’s basketball history.
The lights over the center of the court went out with 3:24 left to play in the game. The lights were on over the baskets so the teams decided to continue play.
Duke’s Carrem Gay played in high school at Christ of King with UConn’s Tina Charles and Lorin Dixon.
Hunter’s second start of the year resulted in 7 points in just 12 minutes of play.
Mel Thomas had 8 assists which tied her career-high.
UConn had 18 assists on 25 made baskets.
UConn shot 53.2% (25-47) from the floor while holding Duke to 35.7% (20-56).
UConn shot 80% (20-25) from the charity stripe while Duke shot 38.5% (5-13). Not that the 8 missed free throws would have mattered but I am sure the Duke coaching staff won’t be happy with that number.
UConn’s Maya Moore and Tina Charles were named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team. Moore was named as the tournament’s most valuable player.
