University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Triumph Over No. 1 Duke in Durham
2/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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DURHAM, NC (Feb. 1) - Junior All-American Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA) and freshman Ann Strother (Castle Rock, CO) each scored 17 points as the UConn women's basketball team defeated top-ranked Duke 77-65 in the national limelight of sold-out Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The capacity crowd of 9,314 was the first ever sell-out for the Duke University women's basketball program. With the victory, UConn improves to 20-0 on the season, while Duke falls from the ranks of the unbeaten at 20-1.
UConn fell behind 4-2 early on, but a Taurasi three gave UConn its first lead at 5-4 and sparked a 13-1 Husky run to take a 15-5 lead at the 14:30 mark. Duke would pull to within six points with 7:15 remaining in the half, but the Huskies would put the clamps on, holding Duke scoreless for the remainder of the stanza to take a commanding 41-20 lead into the locker room.
Duke forward Michele Matyasovsky would break the drought with a three pointer at the 18:15 mark in the second half, but UConn answered with an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 51-23. However, Duke would heat up and manage to climb back into the game with a 30-11 run over the next 12:50 and shrink the lead back to single digits at 62-53. Duke would creep to within six points at 71-65 with under one minute remaining, but Taurasi, Ashley Battle (Pittsburgh, PA), Strother, and Maria Conlon (Derby, CT) were clutch from the free-throw line combining to go eight-eight in the game's final minute.
Strother led all players in rebounding, pulling down a career high tying 11 boards to record her second career double-double, and Conlon played 38 rock-solid minutes at point guard, dishing out a career high eight assists without turning the ball over once. Battle scored 12 points and snatched six rebounds and freshman Willnett Crocket (Harbor City, CA) scored a career-high 13 points in the victory. Connecticut's defense held Duke to 33% shooting, and UConn's half-court set was extremely effective as 22 of the Huskie's 27 baskets were assisted.
Junior All-American Alana Beard led the way for Duke, playing the entire game and scoring 26 points.
UConn is back in action Tuesday February 4th, as they travel to Jamaica, NY to take on BIG EAST opponent St. John's. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm and will be televised locally on CPTV.
