The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Maya Moore rises up for a shot against Arizona State.

TRENTON, N.J. - Last year, Maya Moore exploded onto the women's college basketball scene. Within weeks, the buzz was all about her offensive presence.

With injuries to Kalana Greene and Mel Thomas, Moore was thrust into the spotlight, shouldering more than traditionally expected from most freshmen.

She took the responsibility in strides.

At 18 years old, Moore became a go-to player for a team looking to make its first Final Four appearance in four years.

"I'm going to go out, I'm going to try to score as many points as I can, get as many rebounds, and try not to be afraid to do that," Moore said.

In the process, she etched her place in the UConn record books, breaking the freshman scoring record. She made Big East history by setting the new freshman scoring record as well as becoming the first ever freshman - in both men's and women's basketball - to be named Big East Player of the Year.

And, she became only the second freshman to be named First Team All-American.

So when it came to her sophomore campaign, people expected more.

Somehow, she made that possible.

This time, though, Moore quietly pieced together another All-American campaign.

"It means a lot to me," Moore said. "I feel like I'm making improvement. Anytime you can increase your individual stat from one year to another, you feel like the work you've been putting in in the offseason and what coaches have been helping me to do is paying off."

On Tuesday night, she became UConn's new single-season high scorer with 712 points, passing Kara Wolters. The Huskies prevailed against the Sun Devils, 83-64, to advance to their second-straight Final Four.

Moore got the team on the board first, blowing past the Arizona State defenders for what looked like an easy layup rolling off her fingertips.

Later in the half, she found herself once again in the position of carrying the team, after Renee Montgomery got three quick fouls in 14 minutes.

"It's really important just to go out there and play hard and just to have all that weight on our shoulders, you know, we've been doing it all season long," said Tina Charles.

Continued...

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