Dec. 28, 2010
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STOCKTON, Calif. - Eleven and a half minutes into Tuesday's Pacific women's basketball contest, the Tigers had held mighty Connecticut, the number one team in the nation, to a mere 15 points. Trailing by just three at 15-12, a murmur of
"what if?" rippled through the sell-out crowd of 6,150. But the two-time defending national champions, and winner of 89 consecutive games, ended those thoughts by out-scoring Pacific 34-7 the rest of the half en route to a 85-42 win at the Spanos Center.
Sophomore forward Jordan Rogers (Sparks, Nev.) tallied her third career double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kendall Rodriguez (La Habra, Calif.) added nine points and five rebounds.
The Huskies (12-0) were paced by Maya Moore's 17 points as the senior All-American forward was one of five players in double-figures for UConn. Sophomore guard Kelly Faris (14), freshman guard Bria Hartley (13), junior guard Tiffany Hayes (12) and sophomore center Heather Buck (11) also hit double-digits in scoring.
UConn dominated inside, owning a 44-14 advantage in points in the paint, while out-rebounding Pacific 50-26.
As a team, Pacific shot 27.8 percent from the field, while the Huskies connected on 47 percent. The Tiger defense held UConn to 24 percent shooting in the first 10 minutes, but the Huskies blew the game open with 32 points of Pacific turnovers, increasing thief field goal percentage to 53 percent in the second half.
"Despite the score, to bring the best team in college basketball to the Spanos Center was exciting," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "I thought our kids competed hard. UConn is unbelievably good. And we held them to two points in the last five minutes of the game and we played with them for the first 15 minutes. We were competing with them and it was back and forth and we were defending well. We just had a hard time with their speed and athleticism. They came on with some pressure, and they can just score so fast and turned our mistakes into instant points."
Pacific kept it close in the opening minutes of the first half, restraining a dynamic Huskies' offense to only 15 points through the first 12 minutes of play. After the Tigers went down 4-0, freshman forward Danielle Peacon (Sparks, Nev.) cut the lead in half with a lay-up in the paint. A perfect 5-0 run from Kendall Rodriguez cut into Connecticut's lead, bringing the score to 15-12 with 8:33 to play in the first half.
"I'm thinking at that point that Stanford won by like a zillion points and we're here getting banged on by these kids," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. "I told (my assistant coaches) at one point, 'This is the best 3-9 team we've played in a long time. I don't know what the heck is going on.'"
However, Pacific would not get any closer, as fouls and turnovers would allow Connecticut to take a 49-19 lead into the second half.
Utilizing double-team defense to limit Moore, the Tigers forced nine first-half turnovers. However, Connecticut's defense was just as good, forcing 14 Tiger turnovers and limiting Pacific's scoring opportunities. Pacific's aggressive defense also earned them 13 first-half fouls, which accounted for 18 of Connecticut's 49 first-half points. In stark contrast, Pacific scored only three points from the line in the first.
The Huskies were able to turn a three-point lead into thirty-point advantage, with a 34-7 run in the last seven minutes of the first half. Hayes led Connecticut in points, scoring ten points from the floor and shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Although Moore was held to eight points, she helped her team's cause by contributing eight rebounds and three steals in the first half.
Rodriguez was the Tigers' offensive cornerstone, scoring five from the field with two rebounds through 20 minutes. Before accumulating three fouls and being replaced, Peacon provided Pacific with a team-high three steals and three rebounds at intermission
Connecticut opened scoring in the second half with a layup by Buck. Back-to-back three-pointers by Pacific's sophomore guard Erica McKenzie (Sparks, Nev.) and Rogers gave a glimpse of Tiger potential and sparked excitement in the crowd. A deep three-pointer from Peacon made the score 53-28 with 17:48 left to play, but the 9-2 run would be the most significant of the half for Pacific.
Pacific's defense held UConn to five points in the final 9:18, and Rogers' three cut the deficit to 43 to decide the final margin.
Peacon finished with five points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, while junior forward Christina Thompson (Sacramento, Calif.) added five points on two-of-two shooting. McKenzie tallied six points and an assist, while senior guard Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) scored four points with a pair of assists. Rogers and Rodriguez each recorded a blocked shot.
Rogers other double-double this season came against another Big East foe, as she tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds in Las Vegas against Rutgers.
Both teams played very physical defense, proven by the 33 combined fouls and 38 combined turnovers committed by Pacific and Connecticut. Six ladies, three from each team, finished the game with three personal fouls.
"They didn't have to play us here. Geno [Auriemma] and his staff just get it. They are such great ambassadors for the women's game," Roberts added. "The chance to bring them here was a chance to showcase women's basketball in this area. For this community and the Central Valley to see the best team in our sport can really generate a lot of interest in women's basketball. That was our hope. And the fact that we sold out, and everyone really got behind this game... that's a success. We had an incredible atmosphere and it was a night I think a lot of people are going to remember."
The loss dropped the Tigers to 3-10 on the season. The Tigers will be back in action at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Friday, December 31st versus Cal State Northridge, in a 2:00 p.m. matinee tip-off.
