No. 2/2 Women's Basketball Breezes Past Stony Brook 98-35
Maya Moore and Mel Thomas each net 21 points in season opening victory

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STORRS, Conn. (Nov. 11, 2007) – Freshman Maya Moore (Lawrenceville, Ga.) recorded a double-double in her collegiate debut with 21 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 2/2 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team defeated Stony Brook 98-35 on Sunday afternoon in Gampel Pavilion. 

Joining Moore in double-figures for the Huskies (1-0) were senior Mel Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 21 points and sophomore Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) with 16. It was the 41^st game in which Thomas scored in double-figures in her UConn career and the 24^th for Charles. 

The Huskies opened the game on a 9-0 run, with six of those points tallied by Charles, in the first 2:53 of the game to force Stony Brook (1-1) into an early timeout. Misha Horsey connected on a jumper following the timeout to give the Seawolves their first points of the contest. However, UConn then rattled off 17 consecutive points to take a 26-2 advantage with just over 13 minutes remaining in the stanza.  

Two more long stretches of Husky scoring, combined with 16 Stony Brook turnovers, gave UConn a 50-14 lead at the break. The 14 points allowed by the Huskies is the least amount since Georgetown scored 12 points on Dec. 7, 2006. Charles led UConn in the first half with 12 points while Thomas added 11. Moore led the Huskies on the boards with five in the first stanza, and the team as a whole shot 59.5% (22-for-37) from the floor.  

UConn opened the second half on a 22-2 run and never looked back. For the game, the Huskies shot 54.7% from the floor, a 41-for-75 effort, and scored 42 points off of 35 Stony Brook miscues. With the win, UConn improves to 26-8 all time in regular season openers and to 19-4 under Geno Auriemma. The Huskies have won their last 16 home openers.  

Junior Renee Montgomery (St. Albans, W. Va.) had seven points and five assists for the Huskies, while classmate Kalana Greene (Saint Stephen, S.C.) tallied eight points, four assists and four steals in the victory.  

Stony Brook was led by Dana Ferraro, who scored 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Joia Daniels had six rebounds to lead the Seawolves while Kairsten Nunn dished out three assists. 

The Huskies will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 14 when UConn will host Holy Cross at Gampel Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on CPTV.
 

Game Notes

• UConn went on 9-0 run over the opening of 2:53 minutes of the contest, forcing Stony Brook into an early timeout.
   
• Today’s game marked the first ever meeting between UConn and Stony Brook.
   
• UConn improves to 26-8 all-time in regular season openers and 19-4 under Geno Auriemma.
   
• UConn has won its last 12 consecutive season openers.
   
• UConn improves to 29-5 all-time in home openers, including 22-1 under Geno Auriemma.
   
• UConn has won its last 16 home openers.
   
• UConn opened a 26-2 lead with a 17-0 run in the first half.
   
• UConn extended its streak without back-to-back losses to 502 consecutive games and is 43-0 following a loss during the stretch.
   
• UConn extends its homecourt winning stretch versus non-ranked opponents to 199 consecutive games.
   
• UConn improves to 38-14 vs. current members of the American East Conference.
   
• Mel Thomas’ 21 points marks her 41^st game with double-figure points in her career.
   
• Tina Charles’ 16 points marked the 24^th double-figure scoring effort of her career.
   
• UConn’s 50 first-half points are its most since 57 at Providence on January 17, 2007.
   
• Stony Brook’s 14 first half points were the fewest by a UConn opponent since Georgetown scored 12 points on December 7, 2006.
   
• Maya Moore’s 21 points rank as the most by a UConn freshman in a collegiate debut since Jennifer Rizzotti posted 23 vs. Fairfield on Dec. 1, 1992.
   
• Stony Brook's 35 points marks the fewest by a UConn opponent since March 18, 2007 when UMBC scored 33.
   
• Mel Thomas’ 21 points marked the 10^th 20 point or better scoring effort of her career.
   
• Maya Moore’s 21 points and 10 rebounds allowed her to become the first UConn freshman to post a double-double in her first career game since Ann Strother’s, 11 points and 11 rebounds, versus Wright State on November 22, 2002.

Post Game Quotes

University of Connecticut

Head Coach Geno Auriemma | Tina Charles | Maya Moore | Mel Thomas

Head Coach Geno Auriemma:

Do you remember a player who has made such an impact in her first game like Maya Moore did?

“I don’t keep track of those sorts of things, I don’t really look at it as an individual game.  Maya is really competitive though, and I asked the question during the shoot-around if she had gotten double-figure rebounds in either of the two exhibition games, and she did today, so we have some competitive players on this team.  I think our three most competitive players on the team are Mel Thomas, Maya Moore and Lorin Dixon.  I don’t think you will find three more competitive players, that’s not to say the others aren’t, but I am talking about being competitive in everything, whether it’s sprinting or a drill.” 

You shared some words with Maya Moore on the sideline towards the end of the game, what did you say to her?

“I talked to her about the role a player has when she comes off the bench.  I would venture to say that some of the greatest players in the history of UConn basketball have come off the bench their freshman year, players like Nykesha Sales, Diana Taurasi and Shea Ralph.  All the players that we have on this team bring something special into the mix.” 

When you play a team like you did today, you can see the things that the team did right, and do you think the team did what they had prepared to do?

“One of the things that we used to talk about is that we don’t play against an opponent, we play a game of basketball.  It’s like a pitcher in baseball, if you put the ball where you want it for nine innings, but the batters hit it than that’s just great hitting, but at least you do what you set out to do.  That’s what we do, we set out to do certain things in the game of basketball, if the other team is better than us then that’s how it goes.  Today and hopefully Wednesday and every game after that, we go out and play the game of basketball.” 

Can you talk about the good passing you had between your big men?

“To me that goes back to 1988 when we had Meghan Pattyson and Kerry Bascom.  Whenever you have big guys that can pass the ball, you have a chance to have a great team.  A lot of times when the guards give it up to the big guys, the offense dies.  We are getting to the point where our big guys are getting pretty good at finding people and putting the ball in the right spot.  That’s something that all of the great teams I’ve coached have had.”

Sophomore Center Tina Charles:

On her play inside

“That is just one thing coach has tried to do is just get me to run down the court. He has said in the past is once we get the rebound, just run down and score. So I am just trying to be one of those bigs. That’s one thing we work on a lot. Coach always says make sure you run the court, make sure the bigs on the court know you are scoring on them.” 

On whether she feels stronger this season

“I’d say it’s probably more mentally I feel stronger. Also being in the gym more rather than just when we have practice. I try to come in and get as much work as I can. 

On whether injury to right shoulder helped her improve left

“Yes, sometimes my trainer and I went into the gym over the summer and just did stuff with my left shoulder.”

Freshman Forward Maya Moore:

How did it feel to play in your first game with UConn?

“It felt great because we had our two exhibition games so I really didn’t feel as nervous as I would if this was my first game. I just really pride myself in making sure I come out with a lot of energy, excitement and intensity.  I think that makes the game fun and worthwhile to play.  I feel that I did that so I am happy as far as that goes.” 

On role this year:

“My role this year is becoming clearer as we come on and my role, regardless if I start or come off the bench will be the same when I get on the court.  Like coach said be aggressive and go after the flow of the game.  Whatever he feels is best for the team chemistry I am going to do.  I think what we have right now is working so I am just going to keep doing it.” 

On team chemistry:

“We all play on the same pace; I know that when I am running that someone will be running next to me. In that case we had a fast break and I saw Mel (Thomas) coming and it was just the obvious pass because she was running with me and not behind. The next time Mel was ahead of me and I was running with her and it was just the right move to make.  I think that chemistry plays into that because we all can play on the same level and pace.” 

Senior Guard Mel Thomas: 

“I have been trying to have a really aggressive mentality and shoot while I am open. That is going to open up other things for other people. For Tina (Charles) too, when she establishes herself inside other things are going to open up. I think that we have a lot of threats we can go inside or out and it is hard for teams to match up with all these guards.”

Stony Brook University

Head Coach Michele Cherry

What did your team take away from the game?

“Nothing. Our goal is to win the American East Conference every year. I look at last year when Hartford was blown out. They scored about 38 points versus UConn and they won our Conference. So, we take nothing away from this. There is nothing that we could possibly take away from this.” 

On Dana Ferraro’s game:

“Dana does what we need her to do. If we need her to score, she’ll step up and score. Against Iona, she only took five shots. She really wasn’t looking to be a scorer because we had other people who were scoring. If there was a bright spot today, it was her. She just loves to compete and she loves the big stage, so this was a great game for her.”

Will this game affect your team’s confidence?

“No, actually we are just focusing on Sacred Heart. They are already thinking about the next one. That is one of the things that I stress to them; you can’t get too high and you can’t get to low. It’s a long season and you are going to have ups and downs, so you are going to have to stay at even keel. As soon as the game is over, win or lose, its over and you have to get ready for the next one.”