Nov. 14, 2009

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STORRS, Conn. - Senior Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) led all players with 26 points and 13 rebounds as the No. 1/1 University of Connecticut women's basketball team opened the 2009-10 regular season with a decisive 105-35 victory over Northeastern on Saturday afternoon in Gampel Pavilion.

Charles, who was 11-of-17 from the field in the game, led six Huskies (1-0) in double-figures. She was joined by junior Maya Moore (Lawrenceville, Ga.), who added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Tiffany Hayes (Lakeland, Fla.) had 14 and senior Kalana Greene (St. Stephen, S.C.) had 13. Senior Meghan Gardler (Springfield, Pa.) and sophomore Caroline Doty (Doylestown, Pa.) each added 10 points for UConn, which improved to 31-5 overall in home openers with the win over Northeastern (0-1).

UConn opened the game on a 28-0 run in the first 5:34 of the contest, including nine points from Charles and eight from Doty. Charles led all scorers at the break with 17 on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor with nine rebounds and one assist. With those nine rebounds, Charles became just the third player in UConn history to tally 1,000 career rebounds. Moore had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists and one steal while Hayes also had 12 points to go along with two rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Huskies led 69-15 at halftime and shot .683 (28-of-41) from the floor while holding Northwestern to just .160 (4-of-25) in the half. The 69 points scored by the Huskies was the most in program history in any half, besting the 68 points scored in the first half against Providence on January 6, 1998.

Northeastern opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Brittany Wilson, but UConn followed that with 11 points to take an 81-18 lead with 13:28 to play and did not look back. Charles added to her 39th career double-double total with nine points and four rebounds in the second half. Moore, who recorded her 28th career double-double in the victory, added six points and three boards in the final half.

UConn finished the game shooting .600 (42-of-70) from the field and also grabbed 61 rebounds, including 41 on the defensive end. Northwestern shot .193 (11-of-57) from the floor in the game.

With her 13 points, Greene became the 33rd player in UConn history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Redshirt freshman Heather Buck (Stonington, Conn.) had four points and 12 rebounds in her first collegiate game.

Rachael Pecota led the way for Northeastern with 10 points and four points, while Kim Carr and Kashaia Cannon each had seven points.

The 105 points scored by UConn in the game marks the 60th time in program history that the team has scored at least 100 points, and the last time it happened was March 22, 2009, a 104-65 victory over Vermont in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The 70-point margin of victory for the Huskies on Saturday was the largest for a UConn team since defeating Long Island in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by 72 (101-29) on March 17, 2001.

UConn will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 17th against No. 12/14 Texas in San Antonio. The game, part of the Road To The Championship, will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and is scheduled to tip-off at 9:30 p.m. ET.