University of Connecticut Athletics
No. 5/5 Huskies Fall to Tennessee 70-64
1/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The loss snapped UConn’s 12-game winning streak to open the season. The Huskies have now lost three-straight meetings with Tennessee.
Freshman Kaili McLaren (Washington, D.C.) got the Huskies on the board first with aggressive play under the basket. Junior Mel Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio) dove for a steal on the following Tennessee possession and with a quick pass to sophomore Renee Montgomery (St. Albans, W.Va.), UConn suddenly took a 4-0 advantage.
Sophomore Kalana Greene (Saint Stephen, S.C.) scored on a backdoor cut from Montgomery along the baseline to go up 8-4. The Lady Vols took their first lead of the game at 10-9 when Alexis Hornbuckle got a bucket with 13:27 on the clock.
Freshman Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) tied things up at 17-17 with a nice spin move in the lane at 8:06, but Tennessee answered moments later with a 3-pointer from Sidney Spencer. Thomas sunk a trey to get the Huskies within four at 26-22 with less than six minutes remaining in the first half.
Junior Charde Houston (San Diego, Calif.) got two points in the paint to close the UConn deficit to eight with the score 34-26. Sophomore Ketia Swanier (Columbus, Ga.) hit on both free throw attempts with 2:06 to go and the scoreboard reading 34-28.
The Lady Vols held on to the lead to go into the locker room at halftime leading 41-29. The 41 points scored by Tennessee marked the most points scored by a UConn opponent and the first time the Huskies trailed at halftime this season.
Tennessee opened the second half with a 6-0 run which was highlighted on a dunk by Candace Parker, Greene knocked down a jumper with 17:25 on the clock which junior Brittany Hunter (Columbus, Ohio) followed up with two free-throws to close in at 47-33.
A steal by Swanier resulted in an easy bucket for Houston. Montgomery grabbed a defensive rebound on the following play and launched a pass half court which found Houston under the basket for the easy lay-in with the score 48-37.
Swanier scored on a fast break off a dish from Hunter which got the crowd on its feet at 13:33. Montgomery pulled up for a jumper at the free throw line to close in on the Lady Vols lead of five at 52-47 with 11:39 on the clock.
Charles beat Parker one-on-one in the lane for two points to make the score 54-49. McLaren trimmed the advantage to three on the next trip down the court after battling through two defenders down in the post.
Houston grabbed two more points under the basket with less than seven minutes remaining in the game down by only two. Thomas nailed a trey out of the corner to tie the game at 58-58 with 4:48 on the clock.
With only 23.5 seconds left in the game, Houston got a basket to get to within three at 67-64. Alexis Hornbuckle sealed the game for Tennessee at 70-64 with two free throws.
Thomas finished with eight points while Charles had seven on the day. McLaren, Greene and Hunter each contributed six points apiece.
UConn still leads the all-time series with Tennessee 13-9. Today’s game marked the 37th sellout all-time at the Hartford Civic Center
The Huskies look to get back on track against Seton Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 9 with a 7:30 tip off at Gampel Pavilion.
SCOREBOARD 1st 2nd Final Tennessee 41 29 70 UConn 29 35 64
Game Notes
ü Tennessee’s 41-29 halftime lead advantage marked the first time UConn has trailed at the half this season and the 12-point deficit marked UConn’s largest of the season.
ü Tennessee’s 41 first-half points are the highest scored by an opponent in any half this season.
ü Today’s loss snapped UConn’s 12-game winning streak to open the season.
ü Today’s loss marked UConn’s third straight vs. Tennessee-only the second time Tennessee has won three straight vs. UConn.
ü UConn still leads the all-time series with Tennessee 13-9.
ü UConn is 1-1 vs. ranked opponents this season.
ü UConn falls to 3-4 all-time vs. Tennessee when it enters as the lower ranked team.
ü UConn is 3-2 all-time vs. Tennessee at the Hartford Civic Center.
ü UConn falls to 70-10 all-time at the Hartford Civic Center including a 4-1 mark this season.
ü UConn extended its consecutive game streak with at least one 3-point field goal to 155 consecutive games.
ü UConn falls to 106-47 all-time vs. opponents ranked in the AP Top 25.
ü Today’s game marked the 37th sellout all-time at the Hartford Civic Center.
ü Charde Houston’s 23 points mark her eighth game in double-figures this season and the 44th of her career.
Post Game Quotes
University of Connecticut
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What was the difference in the second half?
“I felt that when Brittany (Hunter) and Ketia (Swanier) came in the game in the second half I thought that they changed the whole complexion of the game. Basically it changed the game to having five players trying to win a basketball game rather than everyone standing around waiting for Charde (Houston) to win the game by her self. Brittany said she was going to play ten minutes today and she ended up playing 19. I wish it was 39 minutes but we’re just not to that point yet. Obviously she gives us something that not every team has.”
How big was Sidney Spencer’s 3-point shot?
”Well, first of all they have the best player. I said going into the game that Tennessee was going to score 70 on us. I thought that we had it in us to get 71. The way we were going to hold them to 70 was doing a good job on the other guys. Candace could score 30 or even 40 and it wouldn’t matter if we kept everyone else in check. Then the only three made in the second half was that one and it was a pretty good play. She’s a senior and she made a hell of a shot.”
What did you get coming out of this game?
”A loss, that’s number one. Generally speaking when you play a team that’s better than yours you lose because of several reasons. You have to figure out what things need to be fixed and what things need to be left alone. You can have a game like this and know that you just played one of the best teams in America. They were better than us but instead of rolling over and playing dead we got a change to win the game: a big win. There’s no consolation in not winning so we have to say that we’re going to fix the things that we didn’t do. In March I would like our chances, but there’s four or five plays in the game that would have turned this game around.”
How much of the game was due to inexperience?
”I hate to use the word inexperience. I looked at some of the shots that we got during that one stretch; a lot of them were wide open shots and we didn’t make them. We got some guys that I think, like Charde, did as much as you can do in a game like that. She needed help and they couldn’t do that. Tennessee’s guards are a lot bigger and it was tough for these guys to get something going. Then in the second half, they did it, and you have to think ‘well if they can do it there they should have done it in the first half’.”
On her performance:
“I think I did really well, but we still lost. Everything that I did doesn’t do anything and is negated because we lost.”
On the Tennessee guards:
“They’re large. They seemed to intimate us a little bit. They played really good defense, something that we acted like we didn’t see before.”
On the better play in the 2nd half:
“We made plays and came together throughout the entire 2nd half.”
On the Tennessee guards:
“I definitely think they outplayed us. I can’t really speak for all the guards, but I don’t think we were intimidated by them. I just think they outplayed us in the first half.”
What did Tennessee do to keep you out of the flow of the game?
“They did really well on offense in the first half. They shut down our offense and made us take a lot of difficult shots. I didn’t take control of the game.”
On missed free-throw:
“Like coach said there were a lot of different plays that hurt us but I have to take responsibility for that free-throw. I made the first shot but couldn't get the second which definitely would have made a difference in the game.”
On what to take out of the game and how to fix the struggles:
“It’s a loss. We just have to be anxious to go into practice and just work on everything we need to work on.”
Are you proud of the team’s effort in the 2nd half?
“Most definitely. We’re not a team that will just lay down and take a beating, especially our upper classmen. We have a lot of pride in each other. The first half was inexcusable, but we’re not a team that’s just going to go away easily.”
University of Tennessee
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On the game
“I had some real question marks as to whether we could hang with them on the boards. I thought it was going to be a real challenge in this game. We managed to do a good job of that. I thought our change of defenses in the first half gave us some good opportunities, but in the second half they really attacked us and got us out of a major run. It’s so important that you answer runs and we talked about that at every time out and we managed to do this. I think our tough schedule prepared us for this, going out on the road. Playing at North Carolina was a place where we were inconsistent and we learned from that, along with playing Texas and Old Dominion. This team played very well today and we are very proud of them.”
On the three point shooting in the first half:
"Three point shooting is always a big part of the offense. Certainly we were trying to get as many good shots as possible. And by doing so we are saying that we are understanding the strength of each player on the floor and their ability to make decisions.”
Can you talk about the job of taking Mel Thomas out of the game?
"We spent the last couple weeks looking at the scout report and preparing for this day. We had to make sure our shooters didn’t let her make a lot of threes. The practice time after Christmas gave us time to look at our scout report defense and that helped us a lot.”
On Candace Parker’s game today:
“I think she had presence and with her ability to shoot really strong, she just kept getting better and better. I think just how assertive she was today, just by getting to the free throw line; she just really stepped up today.”
How did UConn get it turned around so quickly?
“Obviously it came down to Houston, just her aggression. We did not slow the ball down during that transition. That was my biggest concern coming in here. We had a hard time with their transition offense, but fortunately at the end of the game when we really had to step up and make some stops, we slowed down their offense and they had to get more rough to step up above us. But Charde really stepped up.”
What was the difference in tonight’s game?
“Over the past seven games, the big difference has been rebounding. Some nights we come in and rebound and some nights we don’t. Today we knew that would be a huge emphasis. We knew they had great rebounders on their team and we needed to box out and get second chance points
On always having big games against UConn:
“I just try to play well every game. We all just try to play within our game and within ourselves and it just so happens that I hit a big shot.”
Did the pressure at the end of the game make you play better?
“Our team really pulled together and we knew that it was crucial that we get baskets. Everybody came together, kept their composure, and finished out the game. We know that UConn is a great team and their going to make ours better.”
Do you think your dunk fired up your team and UConn?
“Two points is two points but it’s always momentum for our team. We knew Connecticut was going to come out with a run, so if that’s what fired them up, we sustained. I had the chance to dunk on Connecticut’s court, and I did.”
On playing against UConn for the first time:
“It was a great experience, a learning experience. I enjoyed it, it was a great win, and I know we’re going to have more to come.”
Does this win send a message to Connecticut?
“Definitely, especially to the West Virginia coach, it sends a message to everyone out there. We’re a great team, a Final Four team.”
Junior Alexis Hornbuckle: "It says Connecticut is a great team to contend with and we’re a great team. Two great teams played tonight and we gave the fans what they wanted.”
This was not one of your best games, how important was the play of Sidney Spencer and Candace Parker to the win?
“It was very key. I looked at both of them before the game and said, ‘I need you to hit the open shots.’ Sidney just looked into my eyes and shook her head, so from then on I was confident. They did a great job; they did exactly what was asked of them. They hit the open shots, and they created the ones they wanted.”
On the play of Candace Parker
“It’s definitely a plus being Candace Parker’s teammate. She speaks volumes. Defensively she blocked sixth shots and on the offensive end, she was going hard to the hole, regardless if they were calling it or not. She was there; she was the spirit we needed. Every time we looked up she was just making a play that we really needed, and we fed off that each and every time and we can’t do without that.”
