Taurasi Leads UConn to Ninth Elite Eight Appearance in Ten Years

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DAYTON, OH (March, 30) -- Naismith Player of the Year Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA) poured in 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the University of Connecticut women's basketball team past Boston College, 70-49, in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at the Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. 

The victory improves the Huskies' record to 34-1 on the campaign and propels them into the East Regional Final where they will face Purdue in a match-up set to tip at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.  Boston College finishes its season with a record of 22-9. 

The Huskies stormed out of the gate as Taurasi set the tone early scoring the game's first five points and UConn jumped out to an 18-9 lead at the 12:24 mark of the first half.  BC hung around in the first half and pulled to within seven, 30-23, with 4:59 remaining on two free-throws by Jessalyn Deveny, but that was as close as BC would get. UConn then mounted a 14-2 run for the remainder of the stanza to take a commanding 44-25 lead into the locker room.

Connecticut would not let up and remained in control during the second half, taking its largest lead, 65-41, with 6:21 left in the contest.

Sophomore Jessica Moore (Palmer, AK) was strong in the the victory, notching 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.  Freshman Barbara Turner (Cleveland, OH) chipped in with 14 points and six boards including four on the offensive glass.  The Husky defense held the Eagles' offense to just 32.2% from the field (19-for-59) while UConn's offense was running on all cylinders, connecting on 27 of its 53 attempts (50.9%).

Deveny led the way for BC with 14 points.  Clare Droesch and Becky Gottstein chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Eagles.