No. 2/2 Women’s Basketball Tops BYU 80-34 
Huskies open game with 23-0 run

Box Score (.html)

HARTFORD, Conn. (November 29, 2007) – The No. 2/2 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team had three players score in double-figures as the Huskies rolled over BYU 80-34 on Thursday evening in the Hartford Civic Center.
 
Freshman Maya Moore (Lawrenceville, Ga.) posted her sixth consecutive game in double-figure points with 17 points to lead the Huskies. Sophomore Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) recorded her second double-double of the season and the 13th of her career with 11 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. She was 5-of-7 from the floor.
 
The Huskies (6-0) held BYU (3-3) scoreless for the first 9:45 of the contest while opening up a 23-0 advantage. It was UConn’s largest lead of the season. Moore, who entered the game just over four minutes into play, scored eight points during the early run. UConn held BYU to just 11 points on 4-of-25 shooting in the first stanza, the eighth-lowest point total for a UConn opponent and the least since the Husky defense allowed six points in the first half at Providence on Feb. 5, 2005. The Huskies countered the BYU effort by tallying 42 points on 18-of-34 shooting for a .529 clip.
 
Although BYU opened the second half by out-scoring the Huskies 7-5, the UConn offense proved to be too much for the Cougars in the closing half. Senior Mel Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored nine points in the stanza en route to 14 for the game. It was her second game in double-figures this season and the 42nd of her career.
 
For the game, the Huskies were 33-of-63 from the field, a 52.4% effort, and registered 22 assists. Junior Kalana Greene (Saint Stephens, S.C.) pulled down eight rebounds in the contest while scoring nine points, and senior Ketia Swanier (Columbus, Ga.) led UConn with four assists.
 
For BYU, Shawnee Slade had a team-high 10 points whiile Lauren Varley led the Cougars on the boards with six. BYU was 13-of-50 from the floor, a .260 clip. Coriann Wood tallied eight points for BYU while also grabbing five rebounds.
 
The Huskies will be in action next on Wednesday, Dec. 5, when UConn hosts Virginia at the Hartford Civic Center. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be seen live on CPTV.

Game Notes

• UConn has won 19 consecutive regular season games following tonight’s win over BYU.
   
• UConn moves to 1-0 all-time in the series vs. BYU following tonight’s win.
   
• UConn improves to 5-0 all-time against Mountain West opponents following tonight’s win over BYU.
   
• UConn extended its winning streak in the month of November to 15 consecutive games and improved its all-time record in the month to 80-14.
   
• UConn moves to 6-0 for the third consecutive season and the 11th time in the last 12 years.
   
• UConn improves to 284-8 all-time in game televised on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV).
   
• Tonight’s win improved extended UConn’s home-court winning streak vs. non-ranked opponents to 201 straight games.
   
• UConn improves to 201-3 since Jan. 31, 1999 vs. non-ranked opponents overall following tonight’s win over BYU.
   
• UConn improves to 77-11 all-time at the Hartford Civic Center and 1-0 in 2007-08 following tonight’s win over BYU.
   
• UConn held BYU scoreless for the first 9:45 of the game as it ran out to a 23-0 lead.
   
• UConn’s 23-0 lead to open the game marked its largest of the season.
   
• UConn freshman Maya Moore extended her streak of games with double-figure points to six straight.
   
• BYU did not score its first field goal until the 10:15 mark of the first half.
   
• BYU’s 11 first-half points tied for the eight-lowest point total in a half by a UConn opponent and marked the lowest first-half point total by a UConn opponent since it allowed six points at Providence on Feb. 5, 2005 (first half).
   
• BYU’s four first-half field goals marked the fewest in a half by a UConn opponent since it allowed four against Syracuse on Feb. 22, 2006.
   
• Sophomore Tina Charles tallied her second double-double of the season and the 13th of her career with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
   
• BYU’s 34 points marks the fifth time in six games that UConn has held its opponent to less than 50 points and the third time they have held its opponent under 40 points.
   
• Mel Thomas’ 14 points marked her second game with double-figure points this season and the 42nd of her career.

University of Connecticut

Head Coach Geno Auriemma | Tina Charles | Mel Thomas

Head Coach Geno Auriemma

What are your thoughts on the 20-0 run UConn had at the start of the game?

“Their best player is out with an ACL injury, the team is young and they’re on the road. I was kind of happy to see that we were able to do so well after having such a long week. I wasn’t sure how we would work out. The trip down there was long, all week without a break and then a long trip home, two days of practice and then a game. I wasn’t sure how we were going to turn out. For the most part we came out pretty good. It could have been better, but it was good.”

On Mel Thomas’ performance today:

“Well, when she missed her first couple three’s I was a little worried. The way Mel (Thomas) is sometimes she’s going to just revert back to her old ways, “why didn’t that shot go in?” You have to make sure she doesn’t lose her aggressiveness. One thing she’s been doing this year is that if the shot isn’t there right away she will makes some space for herself and try to make something happen. She’s also our best free-throw shooter. I’m happy when she gets in the position to be fouled”

How did the team do after the long trip to the Virgin Islands?

“I wasn’t so much trying to test their legs: kids can pretty much bounce back from going hard. What I was trying to do was put them in a mental head lock. I was trying to mentally get them worn out and see how they respond.  They are tired, but when you’re tired your mind can either make you un-tired or make you more tired. I put a lot of new stuff in. practice and shoot-around has been taxing. I think it came out pretty good.”

Center, Tina Charles

How does it feel after your first game back from the Virgin Islands?

“It was good.  I mean I miss the Virgin Islands - I miss the weather and everything, but other than that it feels good to be in front of all of our fans.”  

How do you think you played tonight?

“I think I played well.  [I had] a double-double and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I wish I would have made some of my free throws, but overall I think I did fine.” 

What do you think of the team’s performance tonight?

“I think [they played] well especially since everybody was able to come in the game at an early point.  I think that’s a great factor for our team, for everybody to come in and play.” 

What is one thing special thing you notice about this team?

“We all bring something different to the court and we just love the game.  I think that’s the best thing.” 

Guard, Mel Thomas 

On the game tonight:

“I think that when you play against that are not as talented as you, I feel that you can sink down to their level a little bit.  I think that there were times that we did not play our best basketball tonight, there were good stretches in there but there was room for improvements.” 

Is it hard to keep your focus when it is 23-0 that early in a game?

“Coach always tries to tell us that we have to worry about our team at all times and to not focus on the opponent at all.  I think that comes with maturity. The more mature you are the more you play great all the time no matter who you play. I think that is when it shows that you are a good basketball team.” 

You seemed to drive to the hoop tonight, was there anything different?

“I didn’t have a different mindset going into the game; it was just what I saw.”

Brigham Young University

Head Coach Jeff Judkins

Opening Statement:

“I first want to apologize for how we played tonight.  You’ve got to give UConn a lot of credit, they’re an excellent team, and well coached, and disciplined, and they’ve got the whole package.  We’re better than what we played tonight, and this is why we scheduled this game, to play against the best, to learn, to get better as a team, get better individually, and of course for me to be a better coach, and be able to do this.   

“That’s not my team, they were scared tonight for some reason.  I know we’re going to learn from this and get better.  Sometimes you need to get kicked in the face to learn.  I’ve been preaching a lot of things this year about some things, and we got away from them tonight, they found really quickly that you don’t get away with them tonight.  I told them to never throw a bounce pass at the wing, or never throw a bounce pass up top, because if you do good teams, good players could steal it.  We did it two or three times tonight, and they stole it, layup. So now I can take that film and say ‘see when you play against great players and great teams you can’t make those kind of mistakes.  I have utmost respect for UConn, I think they’ll win the national championship, they’re going to be right there. Geno is a great coach, and a good friend, and I appreciate the opportunity he’s given me rub shoulders with him.  I did apologize with him and said hey, next year we’ll give him a better game. Hopefully you’ll all come out and see the beautiful mountains, and I know that we’ll play a lot better.”  

Do you think they were shell shocked or intimidated by the big arena?

“Well you know what, our arena holds 23,000, so I don’t think they were intimidated with that.  I think they were intimidated coming out and they locked into us.  They were very physical.  We’re probably one of the most physical teams in the west, and I think they out played us physically and I think that was part of it.  I think that we came out and we couldn’t get a basket, or get to the basket.  You’ve got to give them a lot of credit for it. They were aggressive coming over our picks.  I think as it got going we made progress getting to the basket, that’s what we’re going to have to deal with.  We have to be able to penetrate, either by dribbling the ball, feeding the post or cutting to the basket.”  

What characteristic about UConn distinguishes it in your mind?

“UConn does everything well.  They can pressure you and are the best rebounding team I’ve seen in a long time.  They really executed their offense well.  A strength of our team is our defense and they tore us apart.”