Spring Break
Huskies dominate in first exhibition game
Chris Brodeur
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Sports
Some 97 miles separated the women's basketball team geographically from its first 2009-10 opponent, the Albany-based College of St. Rose out of the Northeast Conference in Division II.
There isn't a precise measure for how far apart the two programs are on the talent map, but for that they took to the court at Gampel Pavilion for an exhibition Thursday night.
The Divison II Golden Knights hung around with the Division I champs for as long as they could, but in the end the Huskies made the most of their first game action of the season, trouncing their visitors by an 85-44 final margin.
Due to an NCAA mandate that prohibits Division I teams from scheduling pre-season games with each other, coach Geno Auriemma was forced to look elsewhere for a tune-up. He acknowledged how difficult it is to find the competition he's looking for under those circumstances.
"It is [hard to find quality opponents]," Auriemma said. "It used to be a little bit better when you had those foreign teams come over because they were much more experienced. You were playing against 27, 28, sometimes 30-year-olds, so from a competitive level, yeah, it was much better back then. We gotta deal with what we've gotta deal with with the NCAA. The alternative is to scrimmage a Division I team and not charge admission and not have anybody at the game, which is probably never gonna happen."
Reigning Naismith National Player of the Year Maya Moore finished with a game-high 19 points, most of which came in a first half that saw her go 8-of-11 from the field.
Senior center Tina Charles recorded the contest's only double-double on a 14-point, 11-board performance.
Freshman guard Kelly Farris - the only newcomer to the 2009-10 squad - chipped in 14 points of her own, dealt four assists and came up with three steals, including a pair of first half thefts that resulted in four fast break points for the Huskies. She shot 2-of-4 from the three-point arc where the rest of her teammates struggled, finishing 7-of-29 as a group.
There isn't a precise measure for how far apart the two programs are on the talent map, but for that they took to the court at Gampel Pavilion for an exhibition Thursday night.
The Divison II Golden Knights hung around with the Division I champs for as long as they could, but in the end the Huskies made the most of their first game action of the season, trouncing their visitors by an 85-44 final margin.
Due to an NCAA mandate that prohibits Division I teams from scheduling pre-season games with each other, coach Geno Auriemma was forced to look elsewhere for a tune-up. He acknowledged how difficult it is to find the competition he's looking for under those circumstances.
"It is [hard to find quality opponents]," Auriemma said. "It used to be a little bit better when you had those foreign teams come over because they were much more experienced. You were playing against 27, 28, sometimes 30-year-olds, so from a competitive level, yeah, it was much better back then. We gotta deal with what we've gotta deal with with the NCAA. The alternative is to scrimmage a Division I team and not charge admission and not have anybody at the game, which is probably never gonna happen."
Reigning Naismith National Player of the Year Maya Moore finished with a game-high 19 points, most of which came in a first half that saw her go 8-of-11 from the field.
Senior center Tina Charles recorded the contest's only double-double on a 14-point, 11-board performance.
Freshman guard Kelly Farris - the only newcomer to the 2009-10 squad - chipped in 14 points of her own, dealt four assists and came up with three steals, including a pair of first half thefts that resulted in four fast break points for the Huskies. She shot 2-of-4 from the three-point arc where the rest of her teammates struggled, finishing 7-of-29 as a group.
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