Spring Break
Moore Perfect In First Half, Finishes With 23
Women's Basketball
Brittany Perotti
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Sports
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Though the No. 1 women's basketball team cruised to a 71-48 victory over conference opponent South Florida at the XL Center, it was Maya Moore who stood out on both sides of the court, especially in the beginning of the game.
Through a first half marked by numerous traveling calls and late fouls for the Huskies, Moore went a perfect 5-5 from the field, hitting three 3-point field goals.
Both she and Renee Montgomery played all but a handful of minutes, though Montgomery said that the two knew they would be in for a long time.
"We both know that we need to be the people that coach can depend on night in and night out, and our teammates can depend on night in and night out," Montgomery said. "So I think we come with the mindset that we need to make it happen every night."
Moore's talent and endurance is evident in only 20 games at the college level. And through those 20 games, Moore has recorded double digits each time, has received the Big East Freshman of the Week honor six times and is currently leading all-time UConn freshmen in points averaged.
She demonstrated once again Wednesday that she is an all-around player, dishing out three assists, grabbing 23 points and getting six boards. Though she started out a little shaky in the first few minutes of the second half, Moore did not appear to let that phase her too much, making her next two free throws and scoring another four points.
"I think we have a good balance with her at the 3 and me at the 2," Montgomery said. "It seems to work out well."
Head coach Geno Auriemma saw something different. He pointed to Moore's one offensive rebound, though did have more to say.
"Maya was good," he said. "But she's always good. She's good by accident sometimes."
It was not until there was 5:35 left to play in the game that Moore got her first break, which eventually meant the end of the night for her.
Yet, Auriemma said she still has as much to learn as any other freshman does, despite her offensive success on the court.
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