The Daily Campus

Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dan Gindraux Tina Charles had 18 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

For much of the first half, it looked as though Louisville would give UConn it's first true test of the year. The Cardinals had multiple leads early on and held a 32-31 lead as late as 15:08 into the first half.

"We actually did a good job of controlling things," said Louisville coach Jeff Walz.

Then the Cardinals started to commit a slew of turnovers that began to push the game further and further out of reach.

"I'm not surprised, I'm just disappointed," said Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry, who committed three turnovers on the night. "I felt like we were capable of winning this game, but we just didn't play our game tonight."

Turnovers cost the Cardinals big late in the first half and early in the second half as the Huskies went on a 30-4 run over the 4:13 of the first half and the first 4:28 of the second. In that span, the Cardinals committed nine turnovers.

Louisville committed 23 turnovers in the game. Starters Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham and Deseree' Byrd combined for 13 of those.

UConn forward Maya Moore said that the biggest thing for the Huskies was to not foul and keep the Louisville players in front of them when on defense. Moore and guard Renee Montgomery finished with three steals each in the game.

Moore lauded the way the Huskies played defense against the Cardinals, who came into the game with the second-best turnover margin in the Big East.

"I'm just proud of my teammates for the way we stepped it up on defense and taking it as a challenge to play the whole team," Moore said.

The Huskies finished the game with 14 fast break points and 21 points off of turnovers.

"They're able to score so quickly and you can't afford to have a breakdown," Walz said.



The Quotable Geno

"You know, for her, great minutes are double-figures, four or five rebounds, a couple steals and a couple assists, because she's a good player. You don't know going in that they aren't going to guard her at all, but at the same time, she was like 6-for1,000 going into this week, so I would say don't guard her, too. After the third or fourth one, I would have gotten a hand up in her face, though. That's just me." - Auriemma on his expectations of Tiffany Hayes, who sank a career-high six 3-pointers, and his thoughts on how Louisville left her open all night.

Quick Hits

UConn is 7-2 all time and 2-0 this season on ESPN's "Big Monday" showcase … UConn has won six straight against Louisville … Maya Moore's 27 points moved her into 30th all time on UConn's scoring list, with 1,075 career points … Monday's game marked the ninth time this season that UConn has had five players score in double digits in a game.



Up Next

UConn continues its Big East schedule this Saturday when the team travels to face Georgetown this Saturday. The Hoyas come into the game in the middle of the pack in the Big East with a 3-3 conference record and a 13-6 record overall. The Hoyas are ranked 10th in the Big East in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

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