Stepping out of conference this late in the season can be tough for any team, even if you are the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. When you’re used to one style of play in the Big East, sometimes that doesn’t carry over so well. Case in point was Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Huskies had been in some heavyweight brawls their last two times out against Louisville and Georgetown where fouls were called like they were in style. The Big East is a physical conference and UConn can play physical with the best of them. Just ask Sylvia Hatchell, UNC women’s basketball coach who complained about the Huskies strong-arming her team.
So with the whistles blowing again, UConn’s play changed and this allowed Oklahoma back into the game. But fortunately for the Huskies, they were the more talented team and that showed in their 73-55 win over the Sooners in front of 7,954 pink clad fans and a nationally-televised audience on ESPN2 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK.
UConn improves to 24-2 while the Sooners fall to 16-8. The Huskies finish up the non-conference portion of their schedule at 13-1 with their only loss coming to No. 1 Baylor in Waco, TX.
Tiffany Hayes led the way for UConn with 23 points and seven assists to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Bria Hartley added 20 points and a team-high seven rebounds with three assists and two steals. Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis both added 10 points with five rebounds and four rebounds respectively. KML tied Hayes with a team-high three steals.
Whitney Hand paced the Sooners with 18 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Sharane Campbell was the only other Sooner in double digits with 11 points and she also pulled down seven boards. Jelena Cerina led all rebounders in the game with nine to go along with her seven points.
It really looked as though this game was going to be over early for the Sooners as UConn didn’t waste too much time going on a big run. They started off the game with a 21-4 run over the first eight minutes. Sheri Coale’s team didn’t give up though.
Over the next three minutes, they scored the games next 11 points to cut UConn’s lead down to six points. Kelly Faris ended that run with a jumper. The Huskies would work their lead back up to 11 points at 30-19 with just under six minutes remaining on a Hartley three pointer.
Then for the next two and a half minutes, neither team found the basket until Hand sunk a free throw after missing her first one. Brianna Banks would nail a three to give UConn a 33-20 lead but once again the Sooners made another run. This time it was an 8-0 run that would cut UConn’s lead to five points but the Huskies would score the final four points of the half to enjoy a 37-28 lead at the break.
UConn tried their best to put this one away again right out of the gates in the second half as they opened up with an 8-2 run. The Sooners rallied back again and got it down to 10 points before six straight points by the Huskies pushed that lead back 16.
Oklahoma would eventually wittle UConn’s lead back down to nine points on two Hand free throws with just under six to go in the game. But that’s as close as the Sooners would get the rest of the way as UConn would use a 10-0 run to put this one out of reach.
Another solid win for the Huskies who had to battle adversity at times during this game with the fouls being called early on. But good teams adjust to things and that’s exactly what they did.
The next game for UConn will be Saturday night when the St. John’s Red Storm come to Gampel Pavilion. It’s Senior Night for the Huskies as Hayes will be honored before the game. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.
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Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Oklahoma Sooners 2.13.12 box score
UConn leads the all-time series with the Sooners 10-0.
Oklahoma guard Whitney Hand is engaged to Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was in attendance for the game
The Huskies finished up their non-conference schedule at 13-1 with their only loss coming to No. 1 Baylor in Waco, TX.
The starters for UConn were the usual five suspects of Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.
The Huskies shot 39.4% (26-66) from the floor while the Sooners shot 34.5% (19-55).
UConn had 15 assists on their 26 made baskets.
The Huskies were 7-of-24 (29.2%) from beyond the arc. Oklahoma was 3-of-14 (21.4%).
UConn was almost perfect at the free throw line going 14-of-15 (93.3%). The only miss was by Kiah Stokes who was 1-of-2.
The Huskies barely won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Sooners 40-39.
UConn outscored Oklahoma in the paint 32-22 and 12-2 on the fast break.
The Huskies had 14 second chance points to eight for the Sooners.
Oklahoma’s bench outscored UConn’s 26-16.
The Huskies had 16 points off of 15 Sooners turnovers. Oklahoma had 13 points off of eight UConn turnovers. Geno Auriemma should be much happier with that number considering how much the team has turned the ball over as of late.
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Photo credit: AP Photo
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