Maya Moore Becomes All-Time Scoring Leader In UConn’s Rout of Sacred Heart

Maya Moore isn’t about records. Her focus is on the team and winning and being a leader for the younger players. She strives to get better on a daily basis. UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma wouldn’t have it any other way. But sometimes when you’re that good, records will be broken like they were on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

Moore needed nine points coming into Sunday’s game to top her friend Tina Charles to become the all-time leading scorer at UConn. And she did that as she finished with 17 points to help the Huskies to an easy 86-32 over in-state foe the Sacred Heart Pioneers in front of 10,223.

Moore’s record-breaking basket came at the 12:42 mark on a jumper. On the next play down, she dished out a nice assist. Besides the 17 points, she finished with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. She was also honored before the game by Auriemma for becoming the fourth player in UConn history to pull down 1,000 career rebounds.

The No. 1/1 Huskies move to 8-0 on the season while the Pioneers fall to 3-4. It’s also the 86th straight win for the Huskies leaving them two wins shy of the UCLA men’s record 88-game winning streak.

Tiffany Hayes led the Huskies with 18 points and added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshmen Samarie Walker and Bria Hartley both added 11 points and four rebounds. Kelly Faris led the Huskies with 10 rebounds and five assists in addition to scoring five points.

Callan Taylor led the Pioneers with 11 points and three rebounds. Alisa Apo chipped in with seven points while Kiley Evans and Maggie Cosgrove both had five.

The Huskies wasted no time in putting this one away as they started out the game with a 15-2 run and followed that with a 17-3 run to put the game away. There was no stopping the Huskies in the first half as they shot 74.2% on their way to a 57-16 halftime lead.

This was a good game for the freshman to get a little more experience and that they did. It also gave Auriemma a chance to play both Stefanie Dolson and Heather Buck at the same time and I’d say the results of that went well. Should be interesting to see what he does when the Huskies go up against some taller teams.

The Huskies have one more game before they break for final exams and that will come on Thursday night (Dec 9.) when they’ll host the Marquette Golden Eagles in a Big East contest at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.

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Notes and musings:

Sacred Heart Pioneers @ UConn Huskies 12.5.10 box score

Here are quotes from Maya Moore, Tiffany Hayes, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and Sacred Heart head coach Ed Swanson.

The starters for the Huskies were Bria Hartley, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris, Maya Moore and Stefanie Dolson.

After shooting 74.2% in the first half, the Huskies finished the game at 58.9% (33-of-56). The Pioneers shot 21.6% (11-of-51).

UConn had 24 assists on their 33 made baskets.

The Huskies were 5-of-14 (35.7%) while the Pioneers were 3-of-15 (20%) from three-point land.

UConn was 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the charity stripe.

The Huskies dominated the glass holding a 50-14 advantage.

UConn had 19 points off of 17 Sacred Heart turnovers. The Huskies turned the ball over 16 times but the Pioneers were only able to get five points.

These notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:

• Maya Moore became Connecticut’s all-time scoring leader when she buried a mid-range jumper at the 12:42 mark. She finished the game with 17 points, extending her all-time mark to 2,355 career points.
• UConn improved to 26-0 against intrastate opponents since Geno Auriemma became head coach for the 1985-86 season.
• The Huskies improved to 110-11 all-time at the XL Center.
• Freshman point guard Bria Hartley returned to the starting lineup after a one-game hiatus. The Huskies have used the same lineup in back-to-back games only once this season.
• UConn led this one wire-to-wire. The Huskies have trailed for only 15:01 this season.
• Tiffany Hayes scored 15 first-half points, marking the most points she has scored in a half since she poured in 30 first-half points against Holy Cross on November 14. Those 30 points marked the most a Husky has ever scored in a half.
• The Huskies’ 57 first-half points totaled more than Sacred Heart scored in the entire game, marking the 33rd time over UConn’s 85-game winning streak that Connecticut has scored more points in a half than its opponent scored in a game.
• UConn has now won 98-straight games when scoring at least 80 points.

Photo credit: AP Photo