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Freshman Morgan Tuck missed her fourth game of the season due to a bone bruise in her right knee.
“I intended on playing her,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “But she said she felt something funny during warm-ups and (team athletic trainer) Rosemary (Ragle) said it’s best if we just don’t. But I had every intention of playing her because she looked pretty good at shootaround today.’’
Rich
Marquette coach Terri Mitchell called two timeouts in the first six minutes, 10 seconds Tuesday. She was trying desperately to slow UConn’s high-octane offense. It did not work.
The third-ranked Huskies put on a magnificent first half display in rolling to a 94-37 victory before 6,430 at Gampel Pavilion. UConn opened with a 42-8 run, making 11 straight shots at one point and 14 of its first 16.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 22 points (8-of-10 FG; 5-of-6 3-pointers), six rebounds and five assists to lead the Huskies (21-1, 8-1 Big East). She made her first eight shots before missing a jumper with 17:22 left in the game.
Bria Hartley added 20 points (5-of-7 3-pointers), four rebounds and three assists for UConn. Stefanie Dolson had 15 points, four rebounds and four blocks. Caroline Doty had 12 points and three assists. Kelly Faris had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. Breanna Stewart had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
The Huskies shot 54.7 percent from the field (season-high 15-of-23 3-pointers). They also scored all of their season-high 33 fastbreak points in the first half.
Brooklyn Pumroy led Marquette (11-11, 3-6) with 11 points. The Golden Eagles are shooting 25.0 percent from the field and committed 22 turnovers.
Rich
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis has 19 points (7-of-7 FG; 5-of-5 3-pointers), four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Huskies. Caroline Doty, Bria Hartley and Kelly Faris each have nine points. Stefanie Dolson and Breanna Stewart have eight points.
The Huskies had runs of 19-0 and 20-0 in the half. They shot 62.9 percent from the field (10-of-13 3-pointers), making 11 straight shots at one point and 14 of their first 16.
UConn has also scored a season-high 33 fastbreak points.
Brooklyn Pumroy has five points to lead Marquette. The Golden Eagles are shooting 20 percent from the field (6-of-30) and have 13 turnovers.
Rich
Heading up to UConn’s showdown with No. 1 Baylor at the XL Center Feb. 18, the fan bases of the Huskies and the Lady Bears have been entered into a competition to see which group can raise the most money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
UConn can text HUSKIES to 85944 to donate $10, or visit http://www.play4kay.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1041592&team=5368671to make a donation online. Baylor fans will have a separate number and website set up. The winning fan base will be revealed after the game.
Here is a link to a video explaining the initiative …
The 2013 Play 4Kay initiative (formerly known as WBCA Pink Zone) is an opportunity to raise breast cancer awareness and funds for research on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
Since its inception in 2007, the Play 4Kay initiative has raised over $2 million to support women’s cancer research. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund is the official charity of the initiative.
Rich
UConn coach Geno Auriemma gave sophomore center Kiah Stokes yet another chance to prove herself Saturday at St. John’s. She was awarded her first career start after he learned that Stefanie Dolson could not play due to illness.
Stokes’ day did not start as she hoped it would as committed two turnovers in the first 34 seconds of the game. However, she shook off her slow start and finished with a season-high seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes.
“I found out I was going to start after we came back in the second time during warm-ups,’’ Stokes said. “At first it kind of threw me off. I didn’t expect it. I thought Stef was going to play. I think that’s one thing I need to work on is just being ready to play because you never know. Stef could get sick or hurt and they might need me to step up. But I was definitely nervous when I first came out there, but coming out in the second half I was really determined just to make a bigger impact and influence on the team.
“I think my team needed me to rebound and I tried my best to do that. I had a few key defensive rebounds and if that’s what my team needs that’s what I’m going to try to give to them.’’
Stokes produced four points, three rebounds and one block in nine minutes in the second half. She too played a role in UConn’s success when it switched from man-to-man to a zone defense.
Stokes ultimately helped the Huskies seal the win with a pair of key defensive rebounds and two free throws in the final 44 seconds.
“The coaches were really hounding me to go zone,’’ Auriemma said. “And I don’t really trust our zone that much. We’re not very bright. We make a lot of mistakes and we’re a man-to-man team primarily. But when Kiah and Morgan (Tuck) did get in the game… Because Kiah’s a really good shot blocker and a really good rebounder, and Morgan’s really smart on the wing I thought, `Let’s take a chance.’ And it kind of made the difference. The one thing that happens for you to win games like this is, I think Kiah got fouled and either (assistant coaches) Marisa (Moseley) or Shea (Ralph) said, `Don’t worry about it, she’s a good free throw shooter.’ And she banks in the first one and then the other one hits like nine parts of the rim and the top of the backboard and it goes in. So sometimes it’s just meant to be. But I was happy for her because she has struggled a lot this year. Hopefully this will be an impetus to kind of get her going.’’
Aureimma said that he was encouraged by how Stokes, who is averaging 2.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 12.6 minutes in 15 games this season, performed at practice Sunday and Monday.
“I think the last two days Kiah’s been better,’’ Auriemma said. “She’s been better and I would hope she would be. If she wasn’t I’d be pretty disappointed. But she’s been better.’’
Rich
WHEN: Tonight, 7.
WHERE: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs (10,167)
RECORDS: Marquette 11-10 (3-5 Big East), UConn 20-1 (7-1)
ON THE AIR: SNY (Andrew Catalon and Meghan Culmo); WTIC-AM 1080 (Bob Joyce and Debbie Fiske)
UP NEXT: Sunday vs. DePaul at Gampel Pavilion, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
MARQUETTE
UCONN
STORY LINES
FRIENDLY FOE: Mosqueda-Lewis is averaging 25.5 points and is 9-of-16 from 3-point range in two career games against Marquette . This will be the first time she will face the Golden Eagles at home.
MISMATCH: The departure of West Virginia to the Big 12 meant that the Huskies would play two teams twice. Notre Dame was a natural fit. But Marquette drew the short straw. UConn won 85-51 last month in Milwaukee and has won all eight games in the series. The last six games have been decided by an average of 32.8 points.
UConn-bound recruit Saniya Chong, a 5-foot-9 guard from Ossining, N.Y., has been selected as one of the 20 participants that will compete in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School All-America Game, the WBCA announced today.
The 22nd annual High School All-America Game will be held at New Orleans Arena, which is the site of the Final Four, April 6 at 4:30 p.m. CT.
“This is a tremendous honor for her that I feel is well deserved,’’ Ossining coach Dan Ricci said. “She is the first player not only from our school but from our Section to receive this honor and she did it her way. She chose to play AAU basketball with her high school teammates even though she had the opportunity to play at several well known prestigious AAU programs. This is a decision that several people told her would hurt her chances of being seen by top colleges and hurt the possibility of her being named an All-American. Well, it turns out she is going to the best women’s basketball program in the country and she is also an All-American. It goes without saying that we here at Ossining High School could not be more proud of Saniya.’’
Chong is averaging 35.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 9.6 assists, 4.3 steals and 1.9 blocks this season. With 2,624 career points, she needs 39 to become the all-time Section 1 scoring leader. The record of 2,662 points that was set in 1987 is currently held by Karen O’Connor, who played at Arizona State.
Chong also has more than 600 career assists and 497 rebounds. She will surpass 500 rebounds tomorrow against Blind Brook.
The 20-player All-America team and a 20-player honorable mention team were selected from a list of nominees by a selection committee composed of WBCA-member girls’ high school basketball coaches from nine geographical districts across the country.
Rich
The Huskies have won seven national championships. They reached the Final Four in an NCAA record-tying five straight seasons and 13 times overall. They have also won at least 30 games in seven straight seasons and in 17 of the last 19 overall.
In considering all of this success, it is easy to overlook some of the more minor accomplishments. With Saturday’s 71-65 win at St. John’s, UConn has won 20 games in 20 straight seasons.
The Huskies have played at least 33 games since the start of the 1993-94 season when the streak began. So winning 20 games has lost some of its appeal. However, junior All-American Bria Hartley took some time to put this streak into perspective.
“I think it’s a tremendous accomplishment,’’ Hartley said. “And then you look at Connecticut and you see how good this program has become because we look at 20 wins and don’t think that’s enough. I think we need 30 wins. Not even 30 wins. We’re looking to win a national championship. That’s our goal and if we don’t do that we failed. So I think that just says the expectations we have for ourselves and I think if you don’t set those high expectations you can’t really achieve those. So I think it’s good that the coaches strive for perfection all the time. So that keeps us motivated and keeps us working. And even if we have a good game there’s still things that we need to improve on. So I think that’s what the coaches do a good job of doing is just making us focus on the little things and that there’s always something more to improve on.’’
Rich
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