Huskies Rally To Defeat Rutgers 66-56
Maya Moore Named Greensboro Regional Most Outstanding Player

Box Score (html)

GREENSBORO, N.C. (April 1, 2008) – The No. 1 seed University of Connecticut women's basketball team overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to defeat No. 2 seed Rutgers 66-56 in the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Greensboro Final on Tuesday night at the Greensboro Coliseum. With the UConn victory, the Huskies earned a trip to the Final Four in Tampa Bay, Fla. where they will face Stanford on Sunday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m.

With the win, UConn improves to 36-1 overall and advances to the Final Four for the first time since the 2004 season and for the ninth time in the program's history.

Rutgers ends its season with an overall record of 27-7 dropping two-of-three games to the Huskies this year.

The UConn win also marks UConn’s 36th victory this season, its highest single-season win total since the 2002-03 campaign when it posted 37 victories.

Freshman Maya Moore (Lawrenceville, Ga.) finished the night with seven points and five rebounds as she was voted the Greensboro Regional Most Outstanding Player.

Rutgers' Epiphany Prince hit a jumper inside the paint for the first two points of the game as the Scarlet Knights took the lead and held it throughout the first half. Prince connected on two free throws to give Rutgers its largest lead of half at 14 with8:11 on the clock. The 14 points also marked the second largest deficit for the Huskies this season, as the Huskies trailed by as much as 17 points to BIG EAST opponent DePaul during their regular season match-up.

The Huskies had a slow start to the night, hitting on just 5-for-15 from the floor, while committing eight turnovers in the first 12:27 of the game. During that time span, Rutgers was able to record 11 points off the UConn turnovers.

UConn battled back in the last 4:32 of the first half as senior Charde Houston (San Diego, Calif.) scored eight points to spark a 12-3 run to end the half. The Huskies went into the locker room at the break down by five at 32-27. UConn's 27 points, marked the lowest number of points they have recorded in a half all season, tying that number in the Huskies' 70-24 victory over Hartford on Dec. 29, 2007.

UConn shot .444 (12-for-27) in the first half, including a 1-for-10 showing from behind the arc, while being out-rebounded 16-13. Rutgers connected on .500 (13-for-26) from the floor as Essence Carson led the Scarlet Knights with 12 first half points.

The Huskies came out of the break with a 6-2 run to tie the game for the first time at 34 but Rutgers' 7-0 run of their own took back the lead at 41-34 with 12:41 remaining in the game. UConn hit just three field goals in the first 8:38 of the half but turned the game around as junior Renee Montgomery (St. Albans, W. Va.) and senior Ketia Swanier (Columbus, Ga.) hit back-to-back three pointers to pull within two at 46-44.

With 6:47 left on the clock, UConn took its first lead of the game as sophomore Kaili McLaren (Washington, D.C.) received a pass under the basketball and connected for a lay-up to put the Huskies ahead 48-46.

The Huskies went on a 17-7 run in the last 2:55 of the game, led by Swanier's  6-for-6 showing from the free throw line to clinch the Elite Eight victory as the Huskies won 66-56 to earn a trip to the Final Four.

Montgomery finished the night with 15 points and two assists for her ninth straight game in double-figure points and her 26th in the last 29 games overall. Sophomore Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) recorded nine points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies as McLaren added 10 points in the win.

The Huskies finished the game shooting .447 (21-for-47) while holding the Scarlet Knights to .411 (23-for-56). Rutgers edged UConn in rebounds 32-31 while scoring 14 fast break points and 17 bench points.

UConn will face Stanford on Sunday, April 6 in the Final Four in Tampa Bay, Fla. Tip is at 7:00 p.m.

Postgame Notes

- UConn advances to the NCAA Final Four for ninth time in the program’s history, the first time since 2004 and the sixth time in the last nine seasons overall.

- UConn will face Stanford in the 2008 NCAA National Semifinals on Sunday, April 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay at a time to be announced.

- UConn improves to 65-14 all-time in NCAA Tournament play (over 20 appearances) following tonight’s regional final win over Rutgers.

- UConn extends its current winning streak to 15 consecutive games following today’s NCAA Regional Final win over Rutgers.

- UConn moves to 9-5 overall in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament following tonight’s win over Rutgers.

- UConn has won 30 of its last 32 NCAA Tournament games overall following tonight’s win over Rutgers.

- UConn improves to 40-4 in NCAA Tournament games since the 2000 season.

- UConn improves to 49-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament games when it received an automatic berth.

- UConn improves to 47-6 all-time when playing in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed.

- UConn has won 19 of its last 20 NCAA Tournament games when playing as a No. 1 seed.

- Tonight’s win marks UConn’s 36th this season - its highest single-season win total since the 2002-03 campaign - when it posted 37 victories - and the fifth time in the program’s history it has recorded at least 35 wins, in each of those previous seasons UConn has gone on to win the national championship.

- Tonight’s win marked UConn’s 65th all-time in NCAA Tournament play - tying Louisiana Tech for the second-most all-time.

- UConn improves to 2-1 all-time vs. opponents from the BIG EAST in NCAA Tournament games following tonight’s win over Rutgers.

- UConn improves to 22-6 in the all-time series with Rutgers and has won four of the last six meetings overall.

- UConn improves to 193-10 all-time when playing as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

- UConn moves to 13-1 in nationally-televised games this season following tonight’s win over Rutgers.

- UConn improves to 130-52 all-time against ranked opponents following tonight’s win over No. 7 Rutgers and have posted an 11-1 mark against ranked opponents in 2007-08.

- UConn improves to 58-35 against opponents ranked among the top 10 of the Associated Press poll following tonight’s win over No. 7 Rutgers.

- With tonight’s win over Rutgers, UConn’s Geno Auriemma ties Dean Smith (North Carolina) for the third most wins in the NCAA Tournament (men’s and women’s) at 65.

- UConn's 27 first half points marked the fewest points scored in a first half by the Huskies all season.

- UConn's 14 point deficit in the first half, marked its second largest deficit of the season   -  the Huskies trailed BIG EAST opponent DePaul by 17 in their regular season match-up in Chicago, Ill.