UCONN Women Battle Past Rutgers

Led by the double-doubles of three players, UCONN was able to withstand a late run by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to win by the final score of 60-50. Charde Houston, Tina Charles and Kalana Greene’s double doubles were the first by 3 UCONN players since January 9th, 1994, when Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters and Jamelle Elliot accomplished the same feat. Houston had 16 points and 11 rebounds while both Charles and Greene each had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Renee Montgomery rounded the Huskies in double figures with 10 points. Rutgers was led by former UCONN recruit Kia Vaughn, who had 16 points and 8 rebounds while Tina Charles best friend, Epiphanny Prince, had 11 points.

Rutgers got out to an early 3-0 lead on an Essence Carson 3 point shot but that was their only lead of the game. A Charles lay up put the Huskies up for good at the 16 minute mark. UCONN got their lead up to 7 early on behind the strength of 5 offensive rebounds and Charles’ 4 blocked shots in the first 10 minutes. A 12-2 run got the UCONN lead up to 10 toward the end of the first half as UCONN went into the locker room leading 30-23.

UCONN opened up the second half on 10-0 run behind the strength of 3 baskets by Greene. UCONN’s defense held Rutgers without a basket for the first 5:49 of the second half. Rutgers never got closer than 9 the rest of way as UCONN went on to their seventh consecutive victory.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
• I was impressed again with the play of Houston. After being in the doghouse of Coach Geno Auriemma, she played with that killer look again and was virtually unstoppable for a short stretch. She did however commit 6 turnovers.
• Mel Thomas had a bagel for the game. She was 0 for 4 from the field and was notably absent down the stretch run as UCONN was fighting off a late Rutgers rally. Oddly strange to me only because she is the best free throw shooter on UCONN’s team.
• Brittany Hunter was in street clothes for the game. Her right knee must have been giving her enough problems for her not to even dress for the game.
• Kaili McLaren only played 2 minutes and committed 3 turnovers in that short span. I am beginning to wonder if she is in Geno’s doghouse still. Her play tonight with the turnovers surely warrants it.
• Of Charles 10 rebounds, an amazing 9 of them were on the offensive end. She also ended up with 6 blocked shots.
• Even though she scored 10 points, Montgomery was an awful 2 of 11 from the floor. However, she was 6 of 8 from the charity strip and she also had 6 steals.
• Towards the end of the game, it looked like to me that UCONN had never seen a full court press before. They were having trouble getting the ball inbounds.
• If you’d like to read Cassie Kerns diary in her hometown newspaper, nwi.com, click here.

Good win for the Huskies. They showed a different look at times with Ketia Swanier in there instead of Thomas. It seemed to give the team a little more speed. However, I still think Thomas should be in there given the fact that most teams fear her 3 point shooting abilities. She is also UCONN’s best free throw shooter as mentioned above.

With the win, UCONN moves to 21-2 (11-0 in the Big East). Next up for the Huskies is a trip to Baton Rouge, LA to take on the LSU Lady Tigers on Sunday. Game time is 3 PM and the game is being televised nationally on espn2.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Geno Auriemma, Rebecca Lobo, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Women’s Basketball