University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Marquette
No. 1 Huskies Cruise Past Marquette 79-47
12/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| AP Photo Gallery
STORRS, Conn. - The No. 1 UConn women's basketball team cruised to a 79-47 victory over Marquette on Thursday night in the Huskies' BIG EAST home-opener in Storrs, Conn.
Maya Moore led the way for the Huskies, finishing the night with 31 points, five blocked shots and eight rebounds. Moore registered 22 of her 31 points in the first half as UConn improves to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the BIG EAST Conference with the program's 87th consecutive victory. Marquette drops to 7-2 on the year and 0-1 in league play.
Moore shot 12-of-18 from the floor, including a 4-of-6 clip from behind the arc, while she added four steals and three assists.
UConn began tonight's contest with a 14-3 run during the first 3:24, led by six points from Moore. The senior's dominating performance in the first half gave UConn a 41-30 lead at the break. Moore hit two key three-pointers at the end of the first half to extend UConn's lead to 14 before Marquette's Angel Robinson knocked down a deep three-pointer at the buzzer before intermission.
After a Robinson jumper at the 15:54 mark in the second half made the score 49-36 in UConn's favor, the Huskies put together a 21-0 run during a span of 8:01 to extend their lead to 34. The Huskies' largest lead of the night came with 6:15 left in the contest as freshman Bria Hartley netted a three pointer to give UConn a 35-point advantage.
Hartley finished the night with 16 points, while Tiffany Hayes also chipped in with 16 on 5-of-10 shooting. Samarie Walker led all players with 13 rebounds, a career-high, as she pulled down nine on the defensive end. Kelly Faris, the only UConn starter to remain scoreless, dished out five assists for the Huskies, while she added two steals in 27 minutes of action. Lorin Dixon was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor for eight points, while she added five assists as well.
With the win, UConn improves to 25-4 all-time in conference home openers, while moving to an all-time mark of 167-54 in games played in the month of December. UConn is now 216-5 when playing in Gampel Pavilion since the 1993-94 season.
The Huskies shot 54.7% from the floor, a 29-of-53 clip, while holding Marquette to just a 26.1-percentage on 18-of-69 from the field. The Golden Eagles hit just 7-of-26 from behind the arc, a 26.9-percentage. UConn registered 40 of its total points in the paint.
UConn will break for final exams and will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 19 when the team travels to the Big Apple to take on Ohio State in Madison Square Garden as part of the Maggie Dixon Classic. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
