UCONN Women Beat Up The Friars

Tina Charles, one of six Huskies in double figures, led UCONN to 96-53 thrashing of the Providence Friars at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. Charles had 18 points and Mel Thomas had 17 points, rebounding from a poor shooting performance against the Lady Tarheels on Monday night. Ketia Swanier scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half while Renee Montgomery and Kalana Greene had 12 points each. Kaili McLaren rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points.

Given the fact that Providence had defeated then #12 Louisville, I had thought this game would be closer than it was. Providence did get out to an early lead at 7-6 but Mel Thomas hit two 3 point shots and the Huskies never looked back again. UCONN led 57-30 at the break. UCONN actually could have been shut out in the 2nd half and still won this game. Tina Charles was amazing in the paint during the game scoring 15 of her team high 18 points in the first half. She had 3 points in limited minutes in the second half.

All of the UCONN starters were out of the game with 12 minutes left in the game. This allowed the reserves a chance to show Coach Geno Auriemma what they can do. Ketia Swanier was actually the star of the reserves tonight as no one on Providence could keep up with her. She made some amazing moves to score points and get assists. Had UCONN had another back up point guard, odds are she would have been sitting on the bench with the starters. The one thing I do enjoy about watching the women is the support that the starters show for the reserves when they are playing. The situation is the same when the starters are on the court.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston
• Mel Thomas made the 143rd 3 point shot of her career tonight moving her into 9th place on the all time career 3 point shots made at UCONN. She passed Svetlana Abrosimova. Next up for Mel to pass is Kris Lamb at 158 3 point shots made.
• This was the 159th consecutive game that UCONN has made at least one 3 point shot.
• Charde Houston wasn’t really involved in the offense too much during the game but she did have a team high 7 rebounds.
• Renee Montgomery had 6 assists to lead the Huskies.
• Brittany Hunter made a brief appearance in the game playing 4 minutes. It looked as though she had some problems with her knee again and never came back in the game.
• For the game, UCONN was 40 of 62 for an astounding 64.5% from the floor.
• Free throws were another story as they were 11 of 18 (57.9%) from the line. This is an issue that Geno Auriemma I am sure is addressing every day at practice.
• UCONN is now 15-2 and 5-0 in the Big East.

From a fans point of view, it was nice to see the Huskies rebound from the loss on Monday night at North Carolina. They played a complete whole game tonight. Next up for the Huskies is their first ever trip to Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon against the St. John’s Red Storm. Game time is 4:30 PM and as usual the game will be broadcast locally in CT on CPTV.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Geno Auriemma, Providence Friars, Women’s Basketball