UCONN Women Spank Villanova

Tina Charles led 5 Huskies in double figures as UCONN finished up it’s home schedule with a convincing 92-49 victory over the Villanova Wildcats. Charles had her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Mel Thomas added 16 points, Renee Montgomery had 13 points, Charde Houston had 12 points and Brittany Hunter scored 10 for the Huskies. Lisa Karcic and Stacie Witman led Villanova with 17 points each.

The game was never in doubt for the Huskies as they scored early and often. UCONN finished up the first half on a 14-3 run to lead by 28 at the half, 45-17. The second half was much of the same as UCONN just totally dominated.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
• Houston was honored before the game for scoring 1,000 points in her UCONN career. She is the 28th player to achieve this feat.
• Thomas moved into 6th place all time on the career 3 pointers made in UCONN history passing Maria Conlon at 170. She now has 172 career 3 pointers made. Next up for Mel is Jennifer Rizzotti and Sue Bird at 207.
• Montgomery added 8 assists and as Bob Picozzi and Meghan Culmo pointed out on the telecast, she even made a layup left handed. I guess whenever she goes left, she always makes the layup with her right hand.
• Hunter’s 10 points came in just 9 minutes of action. It was good to see her get sometime in the game as she will be needed in the run to the Big East Championship and the National Championship.
• Charles had her 10th double-double wrapped up in the first half as she had 16 of her 21 points and 10 of her 13 rebounds in the first half. She is playing at an extremely high level right now and if her shoulder can stay healthy, she will be a force to reckoned with down the stretch and the next 3 years for the Huskies.
• UCONN shot 51% (36 for 70) from the floor while holding Villanova to 32% (18 for 56).
• UCONN dominated the glass pulling down 53 rebounds to Villanova’s 24.
• UCONN had 22 assists in the game on 36 made baskets and only committed 6 turnovers in the game.
• UCONN received their Big East Regular Season Championship trophy after the game.

With the win, UCONN moves to 26-2 (15-0 in the Big East). They can finish a perfect 16-0 in the Big East with a victory over Rutgers @ the RAC on Monday night. That game will be televised nationally on espn2 at 7:00 PM.

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