UCONN Women Escape Cincinnati With A Win

In Mel Thomas’ homecoming, UCONN held on in the end to win against the Cincinnati Bearcats 70-60. The Huskies were led by reigning Big East Player of the Week, Kalana Greene, who had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Thomas didn’t disappoint her friends and family by adding 14 points, including a perfect 5 for 5 from the free throw line. The Bearcats were led by Emy Ogide and Carla Jacobs, who both scored 12 points. Michelle Jones,a teammate of Thomas in high school, added 11 points for the Bearcats.

UCONN fell behind 6-0 but then they went on a 19-0 run to take the lead in the first half. Thomas had 2 three pointers to lead the Huskies with 9 points at the half as they led by 12 at the break. Both teams took care of the ball well in the first half with UCONN committing only 5 turnovers and the Bearcats committed 7.

The second half was a different story as Cincinnati fought and clawed to stay close to the Huskies. UCONN went cold and couldn’t make any shots and Cincinnati was. Cincinnati actually took the lead 56-55 with 6:17 to go. UCONN kept it close and regained the lead on a Renee Montgomery 3 point shot with 4 minutes to go and never looked back. They held the Bearcats scoreless for the last 5 minutes of the game.

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles, and Houston.
• Kalana Greene was named the Big East Player of the Week for games played 1/22 to 1/28. She is the first UCONN player to win that award this season.
• Charde Houston only played 4 minutes in the game. It is not known why she played so little but I can only venture a guess that Coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t happy with her effort. It even may have been a carry-over from practice this week. But as I said, right now only Geno and staff know why Charde played so little.
• Brittany Hunter did not play in the game tonight. It was the first time in 6 games that she didn’t play.
• Mel Thomas’ parents bought around 130 tickets for the game. Mel probably had around 200 people there tonight watching her including her former high school team. Of course they might have been there to watch Michelle Jones too.
• Tina Charles injured her shoulder in the first half but returned to action. She was in foul trouble most of the game and fouled out with 6 minutes left.
• Because of Charles’ foul trouble, Kaili McLaren had to play more minutes and she didn’t disappoint. She had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
• Renee Montgomery had 14 points in the game, including the game clinching 3 pointer. She also had a sweet block in the second half.
• UCONN’s free throw shooting percentage was an astounding 88% in the game. They were 15 of 17 from the line. The only misses were by Tina Charles.
• UCONN was actually out-rebounded in the game by 2 rebounds. Cincinnati is one of the better rebounding teams in the Big East and the country and it showed during the game.
• The win was the 700th in the history of UCONN’s Women’s basketball.

A gritty win by the Huskies. They showed that if they are in trouble on the road, they indeed can recover and win. I am sure Thomas had some nerves but she really didn’t show it. Unfortunately for Mel, this will be the only time she plays in her hometown unless Geno Auriemma has a game scheduled against Xavier next season.

With the win, the Huskies move to 19-2 (9-0 in the Big East) on the season. Next up for the Huskies is another road game as they travel to Marquette on Saturday to take on the Golden Eagles. Game time is 8 PM and as usual the game is on CPTV here in Connecticut.

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