UCONN Women Overcome Sluggish 1st Half, Defeat Notre Dame

Freshman Tina Charles near triple-double led the UCONN women past Notre Dame by the score of 64-47. Charles had 12 pts, 10 rebounds, and 9 blocked shots. Kalana Greene chipped in with 10 pts and 7 rebounds for the Huskies. The Fighting Irish were led by Erica Williamson with 12 pts and Crystal Erwin’s 11 points.

Neither team really came out to play in the first half as both teams were sluggish offensively. UCONN was 9 of 24 (37.5%) and Notre Dame was 7 for 31 (22.6%) from the floor. UCONN went into the break leading by 8, 24-16.

UCONN came out a as totally different team in the second half and for the most part they were clicking on all cylinders. Shots were falling, playing good defense and shutting down the Irish.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
• Tina Charles 9 blocked shots is good for a tie for 1st all time in UCONN history. It is also the Big East Freshman record for blocks in a game.
• Besides Charles 9 blocks, three other players blocked 7 shots (Houston 3, Greene 2, and Hunter 2) giving UCONN 16 for the game.
• Mel Thomas is 6 made 3 point shots away from a tie for 7th all time. She has 155 made in her career. Kerry Bascom is at 161 in 7th place.
• Charde Houston had 10 rebounds and 9 points in the game. It is nice to see Charde scoring again after really not being involved in the offense.
• UCONN shot 18 of 24 (75%) at the free throw line in the game. A marked improvement over past games.
• This game was the first sellout at Gampel for the women this season.
• UCONN committed a season high 27 turnovers.

It was nice to see the Huskies respond in the 2nd half after a really bad first half. This is something the men are lacking right now. Things are coming together for the Huskies at the right time. This quote from Tina Charles to me, says it all:

Do you feel like you’re living up to Coach’s expectations?

“No not really and I’m not living up to mine either. I’m just going to have to keep on worker harder in practice and getting better.”

With the win, the Huskies improve to 18-2 (8-0 Big East) on the season. Next up for the Huskies is a trip to Mel Thomas’ hometown of Cincinnati on January 30th to take on the Bearcats. Game time is 7 PM and will be televised locally on CPTV.