Spring Break
Fighting off a scare from the Irish
Huskies go on 22-1 run, move to 27-0
Mike Northup
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Sports
HARTFORD - The No. 1 UConn women's closest win of the season still ended up being by double-digits.
Finding themselves trailing in the second half for the first time all season, the Huskies (27-0, 13-0 Big East) used a 22-1 run to pull away from No. 24 Notre Dame (18-7, 7-6). They held on for the 76-66 win in front of the season's biggest crowd at the XL Center, 14,533.
Three minutes and 39 seconds into the second half, Notre Dame's Ashley Barlow hit a fast break lay-up to put the Fighting Irish up 43-41. Maya Moore answered with a jumper at the other end to tie things back up before a media timeout was called with 15:19 left in the half.
Coming out of the huddle, UConn coach Geno Auriemma told Renee Montgomery that the Huskies needed to go on a run.
"I know that, like, we gotta make it happen and it's not going to just happen on its own," Montgomery said. "I think that's why coach just pulled me aside and told me to make it happen. I think sometimes we're always waiting on it, waiting on it, but nobody's doing anything to get it going."
Coming out of the timeout, Montgomery responded, hitting two straight 3-pointers to push the lead to six at 49-43. The Huskies would score 14 of the game's next 15 points, capping off the run with a Maya Moore 3-pointer to push the lead to 63-44.
Montgomery finished with a game-high 20 points and eight assists in 39 minutes of play.
"What makes Renee so valuable is she can play a lot of minutes - she's very durable for the most part - and when she senses that the game's not going the way she wants it to go, she has the ability to make the game go the way she wants it to go," Auriemma said.
Moore, who finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds, said Montgomery's play was inspiring during that stretch.
"Sometimes we just need the spark and other people start picking up," Moore said.
Notre Dame battled back to get the game within eight points in the game's final minute, but never got any closer before the final buzzer.
Finding themselves trailing in the second half for the first time all season, the Huskies (27-0, 13-0 Big East) used a 22-1 run to pull away from No. 24 Notre Dame (18-7, 7-6). They held on for the 76-66 win in front of the season's biggest crowd at the XL Center, 14,533.
Three minutes and 39 seconds into the second half, Notre Dame's Ashley Barlow hit a fast break lay-up to put the Fighting Irish up 43-41. Maya Moore answered with a jumper at the other end to tie things back up before a media timeout was called with 15:19 left in the half.
Coming out of the huddle, UConn coach Geno Auriemma told Renee Montgomery that the Huskies needed to go on a run.
"I know that, like, we gotta make it happen and it's not going to just happen on its own," Montgomery said. "I think that's why coach just pulled me aside and told me to make it happen. I think sometimes we're always waiting on it, waiting on it, but nobody's doing anything to get it going."
Coming out of the timeout, Montgomery responded, hitting two straight 3-pointers to push the lead to six at 49-43. The Huskies would score 14 of the game's next 15 points, capping off the run with a Maya Moore 3-pointer to push the lead to 63-44.
Montgomery finished with a game-high 20 points and eight assists in 39 minutes of play.
"What makes Renee so valuable is she can play a lot of minutes - she's very durable for the most part - and when she senses that the game's not going the way she wants it to go, she has the ability to make the game go the way she wants it to go," Auriemma said.
Moore, who finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds, said Montgomery's play was inspiring during that stretch.
"Sometimes we just need the spark and other people start picking up," Moore said.
Notre Dame battled back to get the game within eight points in the game's final minute, but never got any closer before the final buzzer.
Be the first to comment on this story