Strong Second Half Puts No. 24 Eagles Away

[box score]

STORRS, CT ( Jan. 26, 2002) -- Senior Asjha Jones (Piscataway, NJ) tied a career-high with 21 points and chipped in 13 rebounds as the No. 1 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team utilized a big second-half run to pull away from No. 24 Boston College, 79-56, at Gampel Pavilion Saturday night. UConn is now 22-0 overall, 8-0 in the BIG EAST, while Boston College falls to 15-4, 6-2 in conference play.

In traditional fashion, UConn stormed to the early lead, posting an 11-2 advantage on a jumper by Jones at the 15:48 mark.

Boston College would respond behind the sharpshooting of Amber Jacobs, who nailed two three-pointers in a 10-2 Eagle run to cut the UConn lead to 13-12 with 14:16 remaining.

With the score 24-22 at the 7:57 mark, UConn again would distance itself from its Boston foe with eight unanswered points. Consecutive three-pointers by Brianne Stepherson chipped into the Husky advantage, but UConn closed the half on a 7-2 run to open a 40-32 advantage.

The Huskies shot only 38.7 percent from the field and committed 11 turnovers in the first stanza, while the Eagles shot 80.0 percent from behind the arc. Senior Sue Bird (Syosset, NY) posted 12 points for UConn while Jones had 10 points and nine rebounds.

After the two squads traded baskets in the first two minutes of the second half to make the score 44-36, UConn reeled off a devastating 14-2 run from which Boston College would never recover. Jones had nine points in the run to bring the score to 58-38 with 13:21 remaining.

Behind a sizzling 60.7 field-goal percentage in the second half, UConn would roll to the 79-56 victory, its 22nd of the season.

Bird finished with a game-high 23 points while backcourt mate sophomore Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA) added 15 points off the bench. Senior Swin Cash (McKeesport, PA) rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points and nine rebounds.

For the Eagles, Clare Droesch had 13 points while Stepherson and Jacobs each recorded 12.

UConn travels to No. 16 Virginia Tech for its next contest, a 7 p.m. matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 29.