University of Connecticut Athletics
Strother's Double-Double Pushes Women's Basketball Past 'Nova
12/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
VILLANOVA, Pa. (Dec. 8. 2005) – Senior Ann Strother (Castle Rock, Colo.) turned in her fourth career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 8/9 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to a 72-56 win over Villanova on Thursday night at The Pavilion in both sides’ BIG EAST Conference opener.
The Huskies up their mark to 7-1 on the season and 1-0 in league action while the Wildcats slip to 5-2 overall after dropping the BIG EAST opener. The Huskies have now won each if their last 14 BIG EAST openers. It is the first time UConn has began its conference slate in December since the 2001-02 season when UConn crushed St. John’s 88-28 on Dec. 2, 2001 to open BIG EAST play en route to an undefeated national championship season.
The Huskies have now gone 436 games without losing consecutive games. UConn has avenged each of its last 34 losses dating back to consecutive defeats at the hands of Providence and Louisville on March 7 and 17, 1993.
Freshman Kalana Greene (St. Stephen, S.C.) made her first career start as the Huskies opened with their fifth different lineup in eight contests this season.
Villanova led for a majority of a fairly tight first half. The two teams traded baskets in the early going as the contest was tied six times over the first 10:33 when a Lisa Karcic jumper evened the score at 13. Kacic would make each of her next two shots to push the Wildcats to a 17-13 edge. UConn cut the Villanova lead to one point on a pair of occasions before a three pointer by Liad Suez-Karni pushed the Wildcat edge to six points at 24-18 with 4:49 to play in the half. Down 26-20 with 3:55 to play in the stanza, UConn showed flashes of what would come in the second half as the team went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:38. Senior Barbara Turner (Cleveland, Ohio) and Strother each hit buckets during the stretch while freshman Renee Montgomery (St. Albans, W. Va.) and Strother each sank a pair of free throws. Montgomery had a career-high 14 points on the night.
A three-pointer by Betsy McManus gave Villanova a 29-28 halftime advantage, marking the first time that UConn has trailed at the half of consecutive games over its past 62 contests. The Huskies trailed both Georgetown (Jan. 10) and Notre Dame (Jan. 13) at the break in 2004.
Building off of their 8-0 run late in the half, UConn dominated the second half to wrestle control of the game. UConn shot a sizzling 18-for-28 after the half (64-percent) while holding the Wildcats to 8-for-28 (29-percent). Strother led this charge as the senior hit on six of her seven shots from the field, and both of her free throws, for 14 second half points.
Just six seconds into the second half, Strother scored off of a feed from sophomore Mel Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio) that gave UConn a lead which it would not relinquish. The UConn lead swelled to seven points at 39-32 when Strother hit another jumper at 17:03, capping a 10-3 Husky run to open the half. The UConn lead hit double digits when Montgomery hit consecutive hoops, the latter layup giving UConn a 50-39 cushion at 11:56. With the lead still 11 points at 55-44 with 9:34 remaining, UConn fashioned a 10-2 run over a four minute span that put the game away. Turner had six points in this stretch, part of a nine-point night for her.
The sides played a reasonably even final five and a half minutes as the Huskies claimed their 20th win in their last 22 matchups against Villanova.
The Huskies will take next week off for final exams and return to action on Monday, Dec. 19 when they play host to Holy Cross at 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Hartford Civic Center in a contest that will be televised by CPTV.
