UConn Stops The Cyclones, Advances To Elite Eight

Back in 1999 the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team faced the Iowa State Cyclones in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and lost 64-58. The Huskies were the top seed in the tournament back then too.

But on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, UConn junior All-American Maya Moore made sure that didn’t happen.

Moore was on fire early on her way to 25 points to help the Huskies to a 74-36 win over the Cyclones in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament in front of 5,825 and nationally-televised audience on ESPN.

The Huskies improve to 36-0 and await the winner of the second game in Dayton on Sunday, Florida State/Mississippi State, on Tuesday night. Iowa State finishes up the season at 25-8.

Moore had 16 her of 25 points in the first half and outscored the Cyclones by two points in the half. She also finished with six rebounds, three assists and three steals in just 20 minutes of game action. Tina Charles had 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Kelly Faris, who is peaking at the right time, came off the bench to add 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Anna Prins led the Cyclones with 10 points while Alison Lacey had nine points and three assists. Chelsea Poppens added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.

This one was pretty much over from the start as Moore hit two three-pointers that were part of a 14-2 run to start the game. With a 19-7 lead, the Huskies went on a 13-2 run to increase their lead to 32-12.

They closed out the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 42-12 at the break. Moore started out the second half with two straight baskets as the Huskies continued to build their lead. It got as high as 50 points at 74-24 with 6:59 to go on Lorin Dixon three-pointer.

If there was one bad thing that happened to the Huskies in the game, it was the fact that the Cyclones outscored them 12-0 over that final 6:59 otherwise, we probably would have seen another 50 point win.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies vs Iowa State Cyclones Sweet 16 NCAA Women’s Tournament 3.28.10 box score

The starters were the usual five suspects of Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.

The Huskies shot 39.4% (26-of-66) from the floor while the Cyclones shot 28.3% (15-of-55).

UConn had 22 assists on their 26 made baskets.

The Huskies were 11-of-26 (42.9%) from three-point land and 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the free throw line. Amazingly enough, the Cyclones didn’t attempt a single free throw in the game.

UConn won the battle of the boards 47-32,  outscored Iowa State 26-18  in the paint and 20-0 on the fast break.

The Huskies had 19 points off of 18 ISU turnovers while the Cyclones had 11 points off of nine UConn turnovers.

The rest of the game note are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:

• UConn advances to the NCAA Regional Final for the fifth straight season and the 16th time in the program’s history following today’s win over No. 4 seed Iowa State.
• UConn moves to 16-2 all-time in the “round of 16” after today’s win over Iowa State.
• UConn extends its winning streak to 75 consecutive games
• the longest winning streak in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history.
• UConn’s 49.3-point margin of victory in its first three games of the 2010 NCAA Tournament marked the largest margin of victory for a team over the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. UConn defeated Southern University (La.) by 56 (95-39); Temple by 54 (90-36) and Iowa State by 38 (74-36).
• UConn moves to 74-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and has won each of its last eight NCAA Tournament games.
• UConn is 4-1 all-time at the University of Dayton Arena in NCAA Tournament play following today’s win over No. 4 seed Iowa State.
• UConn boasts a record of 58-11 when it receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
• UConn is 56-7 all-time when playing as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament – the Huskies have won 28 of its last 30 games it has played as a No. 1 seed.
• UConn opens a perfect 36-0 to start a season for the second straight year and the third time since 2001-02.
• UConn improves to 268-11 when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
• UConn moves to 155-53 all-time vs. ranked opponents following today’s win over No. 16/16 Iowa State.
• UConn moves to a perfect 25-0 vs. ranked opponents during its NCAA record 75-game winning streak.
• UConn opened today’s game with a 14-2 run in the first 5:38.
• Maya Moore was 4-of-4 from behind the arc in the first half as she out the final 9:23 of the first half after picking up her second foul.
• Maya Moore outscored Iowa State 16-14 in the first half.
• UConn closed out the first half with a 22-4 run.
• UConn went on a 14-0 run in the second half in a span of 5:29 to extend its lead to 47 at 68-21.
• UConn scored more points in the first half (42) than Iowa State scored for the entire game (36)
• marking the 29th time the Huskies have posted more points in the first half than their opponents have managed for the entire game during the current 75-game winning streak.
• The Huskies have gone 226 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to shoot more than .500 from the field. Boston College was the last opponent to post a shooting percentage more than .500, coming on March 8, 2004.
• For the second-straight game Kelly Faris recorded career high marks in points (16) and 3-point field goals (4-of-4).
• Kelly Faris’ 16 points marked her third game with double-figures points this season and her second consecutive also marks the first time she has recorded double-digit points in back-to-back games.
• Maya Moore’s 25 points ties her career high in an NCAA tournament game vs. California (2009) and Old Dominion (2008).
• Maya Moore’s six rebounds moves her past Kara Wolters (927) and into fifth place on the UConn all-time rebounding list with a current total of 932.
• Maya Moore’s 25 points marked her 35th game with double-figure points this season and her 109th in 113 career games.
• Maya Moore’s 25 points marked her 20th straight game with double-figure points and her 13th in 14 career NCAA Tournament games.
• Maya Moore’s 25 points marked her ninth game with 20 or more points in an NCAA Tournament (14 career NCAA Tournament games).
• Tina Charles 16 points marked her eighth straight game with double-figure points and her 34th this season.
• Maya Moore has registered double-figure points in each of her last 10 NCAA Tournament games.