University of Connecticut Athletics
Strong Second Half Paces UConn Past Siena
12/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STORRS, CT (December 2, 2003) – Sophomore forward Barbara Turner scored all 12 of her points in the first 6:17 of the second half as top-ranked Connecticut pulled away from Siena to earn a 69-45 victory before the 100th consecutive sellout (and 77th straight at Gampel Pavilion) Tuesday evening.
The win was the Huskies fourth in a row this season without a loss, while the Saints drop to 2-3. It was UConn’s 71th consecutive regular season victory.
UConn led just 29-23 after a sluggish opening twenty minutes, but quickly took control of the game with a 21-3 run to open the second half as Turner both started and finished the run with made baskets. Siena was able to get no closer than 22 points the rest of the way. UConn had difficulty at the outset of the contest, struggling from the field and committing eight first half turnovers, but harassed the Saints into 14 miscues in the opening half. The 23 points was the lowest scoring first half for UConn since the BIG EAST Tournament final against Villanova on March 11, 2003, when they scored 17 against the Wildcats.
Sophomore forward Ann Strother led the Huskies with game-high totals of 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Senior All-America Diana Taurasi had 13 points and five assists. It was the 18th straight game that Taurasi has scored in double figures. Turner amassed her dozen points in just 15 minutes of play. Junior center Jessica Moore scored nine points, while senior forward Morgan Valley had eight points and five rebounds off of the bench.
The victory marked the 67th straight win at home, and 46th straight in the friendly confines of Gampel Pavilion. UConn finished shooting 49% (28 of 57) from the field and held the Saints to just 31% (17 of 55) shooting. The Huskies were they usual unselfish selves, dishing out 21 helpers on 28 made field goals.
Jolene Johnston paced Siena with 12 points.
The Huskies now embark on a brief two-game, West Coast road trip that commences on Friday when they play at Pepperdine in Malibu, CA. Game time is set for 11:00 p.m. and the game will be televised locally by CPTV. The trip concludes on Sunday when the Huskies play Southern California in Los Angeles at 5:00.
POST GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
Opening Statement
That first half was just bad basketball. That’s all you can say to explain it. (We) rushed passes. There was no flow to it. No nothing. Teams have figured out how to play against us. Certainly they’ve figured out how to play against Diana (Taurasi). Foul her every single possession because the refs can’t call every single one. Every time she tries to move the ball up, just grab her and hold on and wait for her to push you back.
On Barbara Turner’s response to a benching
I think that we’ll know Friday against Pepperdine and that’s no guarantee that she’ll do it Sunday against USC. I’ll quit smoking for two days, but I’m not cured. It’s an ongoing process here. Disappointing to me, sure, but it’s probably more disappointing to her. I get lots of opportunities to do this. Players only get a limited number of chances to play games.
On Ann Strother
Ann always seems to have a lot of energy. That’s one thing she has. If energy translated into made shots she’d be an All-American. She was much more aggressive, but she’s been like that, for the most part, all season. She’s had a different approach. Last year I think she was content sometimes to not be in the game.
On Nicole Wolff’s injury
That is just unfortunate. We were talking today and she felt like there were things that most college freshmen have to work through that she didn’t get a chance to do last year. And now, she knows what those things were, and she had a pretty good idea what she had to do to work through those things and now she isn’t going to get the opportunity. Who knows why it happens. You don’t want to say it’s unfair because a lot of things aren’t fair in this world. It’s just unfortunate.
Does Ashley Valley fill the void?
Somebody’s going to have to give us those minutes, whether it’s Ashley Valley, Ashley Battle, Kiana (Robinson), Stacy (Marron), I don’t know, but they’ve got to come from someplace. You’re going to have days when Ann, D or Maria (Conlan) struggle and you have to get it from someplace. Maybe Ashley will be this year’s Maria Conlan. Who knows? You find opportunity in adversity. Just like Maria was ready for it last year and wouldn’t have been ready the year before, Ashley’s much more prepared for it. There’s no question about it.
Ann Strother
On helping out in the lackluster first half:
I felt like I needed to get something going and get something started, whether it was to get a basket or a rebound or get a steal, just something to get the energy going. I think [the score] had more to do with us lacking a little bit of energy and not coming out with a bang or with the energy that we usually do, and it took us a while to get it going.
On Geno’s thoughts
He was pretty much saying, well, you guys either need to do it or get off the court, and either pick it up or it’s going to be ugly. I don’t think he really had to say anything… we all knew what was going wrong and what we needed to do.”
Diana Taurasi
On getting out-rebounded in the first half
Obviously getting out-rebounded in the first half isn’t something that happens to us very often, and usually rebounding is one of our strong suits, but it just hasn’t been a priority lately.
On Siena and the first half
I wasn’t really surprised [at how good they were]. They’re a good team and they’ve got good players… they play hard and they run through their stuff pretty well. [The first half score] was a little bit of a surprise, but the score didn’t affect us as much as not playing well did, because that’s what we really care about the most, and we just didn’t have it.
On the second half
Eventually we got on a little bit of a roll, and it’s funny how our defense just sparks everything. Its always been like that… if the defense is playing well, it sparks the offense. [In the second half] we ran a little bit more, got a three in the corner and Jess got a layup, and we just have to look to do that a little bit more.
On going home to California this weekend
I’m definitely ready to go back home for a little bit… it got cold here today and it reminded me of that… it should be really nice.
Head Coach Gina Castelli
Opening Statement
I am overall very happy, I am proud of my team, especially in the first half. We played hard, which I kept saying to them and to make sure we do the little things. If we do the little things, like box out, that will keep us in the game.
In the second half, UConn came out on fire; they knew that they needed to step up. I didn’t think my team backed down.
On lack of making three point shots
I thought we had some open looks, but we didn’t make them. In the second half, I thought we just ran out of gas. It became obvious that we got fatigued, maybe it was the game or the amount of games we have played in the last few days.
Katelyn Dooley usually hits shots, and she had the open looks, but she just got fatigued the same with Michelle Blot, she was trying to stay with Diana Taurasi the entire night.
On what was the most impressive about UConn
The way that they move the ball and how much they play like a team. I am so impressed on how Geno Auriemma takes the most talented players in the country and makes them work together as a team, that is the most challenging thing for a coach to do. I feel that Geno is just a master of getting his players to play together.
On the learning experience of playing UConn
I told my team that it is a wonderful opportunity in their lifetime to play the number one team, and it is not going to happen much in their lifetime. It was a great experience and this will prepare us for our league.
We have learned that with hard work you can accomplish a lot, and I think that is what we learned from today’s game.
#40 Jolene Johnston
On playing UConn
At first I was trying to say to myself that it was just another opponent, and try not to think about it too much, but every time I realized that we are playing UConn. Every time I was out there, I couldn’t hold back a smile and think that this is awesome. It was just a cool experience to play a team that never loses.”
It was a great atmosphere to see how we can respond, it was every exciting.
On her thoughts on the teams play in the first half
What more can you ask, to be tied or up a few or down few against UConn. We played really well as a team and we came to play.
#11Michelle Blot
On guarding #3 Diana Taurasi
I was ready for the challenge and I love challenges. The way our team played overall was great.
