Huskies Pull Away In Second Half For 74-50 Win
Boxscore
HARTFORD, CT (Dec. 9, 2001) -- Sophomore Diana
Taurasi (Chino, CA) tied a career-high with 24 points, including 15 in
the first half, to lead the No. 1 University of Connecticut women’s
basketball team to a 74-50 victory over No. 8 Louisiana Tech Sunday
afternoon at the Hartford Civic Center. With the win, UConn remains
spotless on the season with a 10-0 record while the Lady Techsters are
2-3, having lost their last three contests.
UConn opened up the game with an 8-0 run
before Essence Perry put Louisiana Tech on the board with a three-pointer at the
15:16 mark. The Lady Techsters would keep the UConn lead to under 10 points
until Taurasi nailed one of her six three-pointers in the game to make the score
19-8 with 9:04 remaining in the half.
A layup by sophomore Maria Conlon (Derby,
CT) just over a minute later gave UConn its largest lead of the half at 21-8.
The Huskies matched the 13-point spread on two other occasions before Louisiana
Tech cut the lead to seven points on a three-point play by Catrina Frierson with
1:14 remaining in the half.
The Huskies responded behind the strong play
of senior Tamika Williams (Dayton, OH) and Taurasi, who helped UConn open a
12-point lead at the half with the score 33-21.
Taurasi and Williams combined for 23 of
UConn’s 33 points in the half as the Huskies struggled with a 32.5 field goal
percentage, its lowest of the season. UConn’s 33 points were also a season-low
for a half.
The Lady Techsters had problems from the
field in the first half as well, connecting on only 7 of 32 field goals for a
21.9 percentage. Louisiana Tech also posted 12 turnovers in the half en route
to 22 for the game.
The second half was a different matter. At
the 15:49 mark, UConn went on a dominating run, reeling off 18 unanswered points
over a span of 3:58 to make the score 59-27 with 11:49 remaining in the contest.
Senior Asjha Jones (Piscataway, NJ) led the
way on the Husky run, posting 10 points in the span to finish with 16 in the
game.
UConn shot 45.5% in the second half while
Louisiana Tech continued to struggle from the field with a 32.3 percentage.
Williams finished with a double-double with
10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while senior Swin Cash (McKeesport, PA)
added 12 points.
Louisiana Tech was paced by Ayana Walker,
who had eight points and eight rebounds.
After its longest layoff of the season,
UConn returns to action against No. 3 Oklahoma on Dec. 22 at the Hartford Civic
Center. Tipoff is 2 p.m.
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