UCONN Women Survive DePaul

Kalana Greene’s career high 25 points along with her 12 rebounds led UCONN past the DePaul Blue Demons by a score of 88-76 in a Big East match-up at Gampel Pavilion. Charde Houston rebounded from her past few low scoring games chipping in 19 points. Brittany Hunter and Tina Charles rounded out the Huskies in double figures each adding 11 points. For DePaul, they were led by Caprice Smith’s 19 points and Allie Quigley’s 16 points.

Other than UCONN’s two losses and the game vs Purdue this season, the game tonight was the closest that a team had been to UCONN towards the end of the game. DePaul, a team which shoots a lot of three pointers, was only 3 of 13 from the behind the line as they stayed close during the 1st half. UCONN only led by 8 at the break. The second half was a different story as UCONN got their lead up to 17 points but DePaul got the lead back down to 5 behind their three point shooting abilities. UCONN hit their free throws down the stretch and that provided the final margin for the game.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
• Charde Houston,who spent most of the 1st half on the bench with 2 fouls, had 17 of her 19 points in the second half.
• Renee Montgomery also struggled with foul trouble in the first half and only finished with 6 points.
• Mel Thomas played all forty minutes during the game. She was instrumental in helping the team build their big lead in the second half when she hit consecutive threes.
• Kalana Greene also played 40 minutes tonight.
• UCONN only played 8 players tonight. Besides the starters, the only others to see time were Hunter, Swanier, and McLaren. All but McLaren played over10 minutes.
• It was nice to see Brittany Hunter on the court again. She is showing flashes of the player that Geno recruited when she was back in high school.

It was nice to the Huskies respond when they were tested down the stretch. They hadn’t shown this in their two losses. Overall a great win for the Huskies as they move to 17-2 (7-0 in the Big East). The Huskies maintain their half game lead over Marquette for the lead in the Big East. Next up for the Huskies is another date at Gampel Pavilion as Notre Dame comes to town. It should be another tough test for the Huskies. Game time is 7:00 and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV.

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