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Huskies Blast St. John's on Senior Night, 118-44
2/23/2001

Game Story | Boxscore | TotalCast

By DONNA TOMMELLEO
AP Sports Writer

STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Svetlana Abrosimova, just like her parents, could only watch the most lopsided win in Connecticut history.

Christine Rigby scored 21 points and Shea Ralph added 19 as No. 3 Connecticut celebrated senior night with a 118-44 win over St. John's on Friday night.

The Huskies opened the second half with a 46-2 run and ended the game by scoring the last 20 points to surpass last year's 72-point win over Hampton in the NCAA tournament.

Connecticut's Svetlana Abrosimova, right, her mother, Ludmila, left, and her father, Oleg walked wave to fans during senior night ceremonies. Abrosimova's parents spent three years saving their money to travel from Russia to attend the game. (AP Photo/Bob Child)
Flanked by her parents and supported by crutches, Abrosimova hobbled into Gampel Pavilion and into the hoopla of senior night. Oleg and Ludmila Abrosimov had never been out of Russia until this week, traveling 8,000 miles to be with the All-American forward.

A foot injury on Feb. 2 ended her career at UConn, but not before she finished as the fifth-leading scorer in school history with 1,865 points.

All around them, fans hoisted signs in Russian. The couple spotted a big blue ``Welcome'' in the upper bleachers and responded with vigorous waves and smiles. They took in the sights and sounds of college basketball American-style, including catching a souvenir T-shirt tossed by cheerleaders.

Abrosimova was in uniform for the game and was ceremoniously announced as a starter for UConn (24-2, 14-1 Big East).

Ralph, last year's Final Four MVP, will end her career at UConn as the program's winningest player. Redshirted her sophomore season with a knee injury, Ralph has been part of 155 wins and just 12 losses.

The rest of the starting lineup included seniors Rigby, Kelly Schumacher, Marci Czel, and junior guard Sue Bird.

That lineup alone proved too strong and too fast for St. John's (8-19, 3-12) and quickly ran out to a 25-9 lead. The Red Storm got in foul trouble early trying to slow the Huskies' rapid attack.

At one point in the half, UConn shot 73 percent on 16-of-22 from the floor. The Huskies put the finishing touches on the game with 20-0 run capped by a 3-point play by Swin Cash.

Latasha Thompson led St. John's with 15 points. The Red Storm were scoreless for the first 10:45 in the first half.

 


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