For the first half, it looked as though the No. 11/8 West Virginia Mountaineers were going to battle the No. 1 UConn Huskies for the entire game trailing by just eight points at the half.
The Huskies quickly put that notion to rest though as 24-3 run in the early part of the second half gave them an 80-47 win over the Mountaineers in front of 9,745 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT on Tuesday night.
It’s the 61st straight win for the Huskies as they improve to 22-0 (9-0 Big East). The Mountaineers suffered just their third loss of the season as they fall to 20-3 (7-2).
Kalana Greene’s spectacular play continued as she led the Huskies with 18 points. Maya Moore had a monster game as she had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Tina Charles rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 14 points to go along with six rebounds and six blocked shots.
Freshman Kelly Faris had her best game since breaking her nose in practice as she finished with nine points and led the Huskies with four assists. She also had a key steal and subsequent three-point play with 15:54 to go in the game that helped key the big 24-3 run.
Sarah Miles paced the Mountaineers with 14 points and four rebounds whil Liz Repella added 13 points and four rebounds.
UConn got out of the gates quickly as they raced out to a quick 9-2 lead. The lead would get as high as 13 points at 28-13 before West Virginia would score the next seven points to cut the lead down to six points. The Huskies would take an eight point lead at 32-24 at the half.
It could have been a lot worse for West Virginia in the first half but the Huskies looked like their male counterparts with ten first half turnovers. They also couldn’t make a layup off of some terrific backdoor cuts.
With a 36-29 lead in the early parts of the second half, the Huskies turned the jets on with a 24-3 run. Tiffany Hayes got it going with two free throws and then Faris made the steal, getting the three-point play. Charles followed that with a 7-0 run of her own while Moore and Greene helped out as well to put the game away.
Considering the Huskies didn’t play all that well in the first half and won by 33 points tells you something you already knew. This team is downright nasty good. Can you imagine if they had their “A” game in the first half. They could have easily won this game by 40-50 points.
But consider a lesson learned as I’m sure head coach Geno Auriemma will tell his charges while watching the film and during practice on Wednesday.
The Huskies are off until Sunday when they head to Freedom Hall to take on the Louisville Cardinals in a Big East matchup. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
Notes and musings:
West Virginia Mountaineers @ UConn Huskies 2.2.10 box score
The starters were Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kalana Greene, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
Charles was honored before the game for scoring 2,000 points in her career.
The Huskies shot 58.8% (28-of-58) from the floor while WVU shot 33.3% (19-of-57).
UConn had 18 assists on their 28 made baskets.
The Huskies were 19-of-25 (76%) from the free throw line and 5-of-10 (50%) from three-point land.
UConn outrebounded the Mountaineers 34-30 and outscored them in the paint 42-24.
The Huskies turned 21 WVU turnovers into 20 points while WVU turned 16 UConn turnovers into 14 points.
The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:
– UConn extends its current winning streak to 61 consecutive games – the second-longest in NCAA Division I history.
– UConn boasts a record of 297-11 at home (Storrs & Hartford) since the 1993-94 season.
– UConn is 103-11 all-time in games played at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
– UConn has won 53 consecutive regular-season home games – the nation’s longest active streak.
– UConn is a perfect 7-0 against ranked opponents in 2009-10 and has won those seven games by a convincing margin of 29.4 ppg.
– UConn has won its last 30 BIG EAST Conference home games – dating back to a Feb. 7, 2006 loss vs. Rutgers (60-56).
– UConn was ranked No. 1 for the 37th consecutive week with the release of the Associated Press Poll on Feb. 1 – marking the longest-ever run at the top spot in the history of the poll.
– UConn leads the all-time series with West Virginia 21-1 and has won each of the last 21 meetings in the series by an average of 31.9 ppg.
– UConn has won 141 of its last 149 games in the regular season against BIG EAST opponents.
– UConn has won 32 consecutive games against BIG EAST opponents in the regular season.
– UConn has is 254-11 all-time when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press Poll.
– UConn is 148-53 versus Top-25 AP ranked teams.
– UConn is 10-1 at home all-time against West Virginia with the lone loss coming on Jan. 22, 1982.
– UConn opens the season 22-0 for the third straight year.
– UConn improves to 193-97 in games played in the month of February and have won 23 of their last 24 games played during the second month of the year.
– UConn has won each of its last 72 BIG EAST regular season games against opponents other than Rutgers.
– Tina Charles 16 points marked her 13th straight game with double-figure points, her 21st this season and the 105th of her career.
– Tina Charles’ six blocks tied her season-high, which she previously set against Cincinnati on Jan. 7.
– Maya Moore’s 15 points marked her sixth straight game with double-figure points, her 21st this season and her 95th in 99 career games.
– Maya Moore’s 15 points and 14 rebounds marked her 34th career double-double and her seventh this season.
– Maya Moore’s 14 rebounds marked a season-high – she previously pulled down 11 versus Texas (Nov. 17) and Notre Dame (Jan. 16).
– Kalana Greene’s 18 points marked her eighth straight game with double-figure points – which is the longest such stretch of her career – besting her seven-game stretch in 2006-07.
– Kelly Faris’ nine points marked her highest tally since scoring 12 against Richmond on Nov. 28.
– UConn’s 32 points marks the fewest scored by the Huskies in the first half this season.
– Kalana Greene scored eight of UConn’s last 11 points in the first half as she led all scorers at the half with 10 points.
– UConn put together a 24-3 run in a span of 5:45 in the second half to extend a seven-point advantage (36-29) into a 28-point lead (60-32).
– UConn has scored 80 or more points in 17 of 22 games this season.
– UConn has won each of its last 84 games in which it has scored 80 points or more.
– UConn has won 19 of its 22 games this season by a margin of 25 points or more.
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