The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Renee Montgomery squares to shoot for two of her 19 points during UConn's 104-65 first-round victory over Vermont Sunday afternoon.

It is not often after losing a game 104-65 that a team walks away smiling. Yet, on Sunday afternoon, that is exactly what No. 16-seeded Vermont did following its loss to the women's basketball team at Gampel Pavilion.

In the dwindling seconds of the Catamounts' loss - ending their season - the players gathered in the middle of the court, waving to fans who traveled from Burlington, Vt., to watch them play one last time. According to UVM guard May Kotsopoulos, it was a thank you to their friends and family for their support.

On the other end of the court, head coach Geno Auriemma and his team quietly celebrated their 34th win of the season, taking another step toward the Final Four in St. Louis. The Huskies (34-0) advanced to the second round and will face No. 8-seeded Florida, which defeated Temple Sunday afternoon.

"The thing that comes to mind is how proud I am of our ladies today," said Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley. "Playing the top team in the country, I think we came out, you know, maybe a little timid at the beginning and kept fighting. There were a lot of opportunities where I think some people would have had a little quit in them and there was no quit on anyone on our team.

"It was just great to see, you know. Everyone wants to win the NCAAs, but if you can't win the NCAAs, then get some moral victories along the way and I think we had a great one today."

Still, the Catamounts (21-12) could not keep up with the pace of the Huskies. Renee Montgomery set that tempo, according to Auriemma, and took control of the game.

The only game plan for UConn, in fact, was to score 100 points, he said.

That quickly translated to the court, where the game got off to a fast start. Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes took two long 3-pointers within 30 seconds and missed. That 3-pointer would be one of four shots that Montgomery missed, ending the day with 19 points in 27 minutes.

The tide changed within seconds after Tina Charles blocked a layup by Courtnay Pilypaitis, resulting in a 3-pointer by Moore at the other end.

Continued...

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