Huskies Roll In Rematch With No. 23 Virginia Tech

[Box Score]

STORRS, CT (Feb. 10, 2002) -- In a rematch of its closest contest of the season, the No. 1 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team made sure its second game against Virginia Tech would not come down to the wire, as the Huskies blitzed the No. 23 Hokies for a 77-42 victory. UConn is now 26-0 overall, 12-0 in the BIG EAST, while Virginia Tech falls to 16-6, 7-4 in the conference.

When UConn faced Virginia Tech in Blacksburg 12 days ago, the Hokies became the only team to hold the Huskies to a single-digit victory this season. However, the rematch was a different story. UConn stormed out of the game with an opening 11-2 run, as the Hokies committed six turnovers in the game’s first five minutes.

Virginia Tech rebounded with a 15-6 run of its own and tied the game at 17-17 on a three-pointer by Lisa Guarneri at the 8:35 mark.

Sophomore Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA) answered with a three-point play 17 seconds later to key an 11-0 Husky run. Virginia Tech’s Chrystal Starling would temporarily stop the UConn offensive barrage with a jumper at the 4:27 mark, but the Huskies closed the half with nine unanswered points. A three-pointer by sophomore Maria Conlon (Derby, CT) with :37 remaining opened UConn’s largest lead of the half at 37-19.

The story of the first half was UConn’s post trio of seniors Swin Cash (McKeesport, PA), Asjha Jones (Piscataway, NJ) and Tamika Williams (Dayton, OH), who contributed 25 of UConn’s 37 points, including the first 14 Husky points. Jones led all scorers with 10 points at the break.

The same trio paced UConn in the opening minutes of the second half, accounting for UConn’s first 14 points as the Huskies opened up a 51-23 lead with 16:21 remaining.

From there, the Huskies would cruise to their 26th victory, claiming their largest lead of the game on a Conlon jumper at the 3:33 mark to make the score 73-35.

Virginia Tech committed 26 turnovers in the contest while UConn turned the ball over only 13 times. UConn also shot 57.1 percent from the field, including a sizzling 69.6 percentage in the second half, compared with Virginia Tech’s effort of 37.0 percent.

Williams led all scorers with 15 points while Jones and Cash each had 14 points. Senior Sue Bird (Syosset, NY) also added 13 points and six assists to finish in double figures.

For the Hokies, Starling recorded 10 points.

UConn hits the road for its next contest, a 7 p.m. matchup with BIG EAST foe Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 13 in Syracuse, NY.