Coming off of a game that they probably should have won on Saturday, you had a feeling that the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team would play a lot better on both ends of the floor. And that’s what they did as they put on a clinic on Tuesday night.
Behind 65.5% shooting for the game plus a strong defensive effort, the Huskies easily beat the Providence Friars 96-35 in front of 8,381 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 13-2 (3-1 Big East) and extend their streak to 47 wins after a loss. The last time the Huskies lost two in a row was in March 1993 when they lost to Providence and Louisville. The Friars, who were coming off an upset win over DePaul, fall to 9-8 (1-3).
Senior Tiffany Hayes and sophomore Bria Hartley led the way for UConn with 19 points each. Both added four rebounds while Hayes had four assists while Hartley added three assists and three steals. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis rebounded from a poor performance in the loss to Notre Dame with a nice night of 13 points, a team-high eight rebounds and six assists.
The six assists tied her for the team-high with Kelly Faris who also had six helpers to go along with her six points and four rebounds. Stefanie Dolson also had a nice game with 12 points, three rebounds and five assists.
The Friars were led by New Haven, CT native Lauren Okafor’s eight points. Alicia Cropper had seven points while Providence’s leading scorer and rebounder, Teya Wright was held to just six points and four rebounds. Wright had come into the game as the only member of the Big East averaging a double-double.
After committing 27 turnovers in the loss on Saturday, the Huskies came out a little sloppy early on as they had four turnovers. This allowed the Friars to keep the game close for the first six and half minutes of the game.
But after a Cropper three for the Friars cut UConn’s lead to 12-9, the Huskies went on a 16-2 run to open up a 28-11 lead. It was UConn’s tough pressure defense that helped them this lead and also was a factor in a 15-0 run that was part of a 21-6 run to close out the first half that saw UConn holding a 49-17 lead.
It was more of the same in the second half for the Huskies as they continued to build their lead higher and higher.
Given that the Friars were coming off the upset of DePaul, I think we all expected a little closer game. Instead, it turned out to a be a great bounce back game for the Huskies after the tough loss on Saturday. It was nice to see them respond with solid efforts on both ends of the floor.
The Huskies are off until Saturday when they’ll travel to just outside the City of Brotherly Love for a matchup with the Villanova Wildcats. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be televised locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.
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Notes and musings:
Providence Friars @ UConn Huskies 1.10.12 box score
Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and Providence head coach Phil Seymore. There are also quotes from the players as well.
UConn’s home winning streak now stands at 94 games.
They have beaten Providence 27 straight times with the last loss coming the semifinals of the Big East Tournament in 1993.
The starters for the Huskies were the usual five suspects of Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.
UConn shot 65.5% (36-55) from the floor while the Friars shot 30% (15-50).
The Huskies had an astounding 29 assists on their 36 made baskets.
UConn was 5-of-10 (50%) from beyond the arc while Providence was just 1-of-16 (6.3%).
The Huskies also had success at the free throw line where they were 19-of-22 (86.4%).
UConn dominated the glass as they outrebounded the Friars 42-18.
The Huskies outscored Providence 56-14 in the paint and 12-2 on the fast break.
UConn had 16 second chance points to just seven for the Friars.
UConn had 33 points off of 25 Friars turnovers. Providence had eight points off of 16 Huskies turnovers.
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Photo credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE (No. 12 in gallery)
