Connecticut was challenged, Maya Moore and the Huskies showed exactly
why they’ve won 77 games in a row.
One more and they’ll be the first
women’s team to go undefeated in consecutive seasons.
Behind 34 points and 12 rebounds from
Moore, UConn beat Baylor and freshman phenom Brittney Griner 70-50 on
Sunday night to advance to the national championship game.
“I’m so excited. It’s what we work for
all season,” Moore said. “I’m almost speechless.”
Tina Charles added 21 points and 13
boards for UConn (38-0), which plays Stanford on Tuesday night for the
title. The Cardinal beat Oklahoma 73-66 in the first semifinal.
The Huskies defeated Stanford 80-68
when the teams met Dec. 23 in Hartford. That’s the closest any team has
come all season to Connecticut, which has won every game during its
streak by double digits.
Stanford handed UConn its last loss
back in the 2008 national semifinals.
Tuesday’s championship game will be
the sixth time that the top two teams in the final Top 25 poll will meet
for the title, with the last coming in 2002 when UConn beat Oklahoma in
San Antonio.
Most of the pregame attention focused
on the enticing matchup at center between Griner and Charles, The
Associated Press player of the year. The 6-foot-8 Griner finished with
13 points and five blocks.
“She just did what every other post
does,” Griner said. “She was just a lot better than most other posts. I
won’t say I got frustrated or upset. It was just a battle. She has more
experience.”
But the Lady Bears (27-10) had no
answer for Moore.
Inside and out, the three-time
All-American tormented Baylor.
The Lady Bears cut a 13-point
halftime deficit to 41-38 nearly 5 minutes into the second half, drawing
huge cheers from an Alamodome crowd that was a sea of yellow and green.
Baylor’s campus is only a 3-hour bus ride away in Waco, and the Lady
Bears were the first team to reach the Final Four in their home state
since Missouri State made it to St. Louis in 2001.
With the score 45-40, Moore quickly
ended any chances of a monumental upset, scoring six of the next eight
points to restore the Huskies’ double-digit lead. Her jumper made it
53-40 with 10:26 left.
“Maya made, obviously, some huge
shots,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
Baylor never got closer than 11 the
rest of the way.
Morghan Medlock scored 14 to lead the
Lady Bears, who were able to stay with UConn as Moore and Charles
didn’t get much help from the rest of their team. The other Huskies
combined for just 15 points.
“It was definitely there for us to
take,” Griner said. “It was mistakes and letting it slip through our
fingers. It was right there.”
From the outset the Huskies went
right at Griner. Tiffany Hayes hit a layup and drew a foul on the
freshman on two of the Huskies’ first three possessions. When
Connecticut wasn’t going at Griner, Charles was drawing her out of the
lane, freeing up the basket for easy layups.
Moore, who came into the game
shooting 64 percent from the field in the NCAA tournament, including a
mind-boggling 70 percent on 3-pointers, was unstoppable early on. She
missed only one of her first six shots as UConn held a 13-5 lead in the
first 7 minutes.
After Melissa Jones‘ three-point play
cut the deficit to five, UConn scored 12 straight points with Charles
and Moore combining for 10 of them. Moore was hitting shots from
everywhere. She connected on 3-pointers, layups, and even a floating
jumper down the lane.
Charles hit a jumper over Griner from
the top of the key and took it right at her for a layin.
Griner finally ended the run with a
layup to make it 25-10 midway through the half. It was her first basket
of the game. The big freshman scored eight of Baylor’s next 12 points,
but the Lady Bears couldn’t get within single digits.
“I think she’s going to be a great
player down the road. Maybe I’ll get a chance to coach her someday,”
said Auriemma, also the U.S. women’s basketball coach for the 2012
Olympics.
Baylor trailed 39-26 at halftime.
Connecticut has entered the NCAAs
unbeaten on four prior occasions. It won the title in 1995, 2002 and
last season, and lost to Tennessee in the regional final in ’97.
The Huskies getting this far was no
surprise. Baylor’s presence was.
The Lady Bears had made it to the
Final Four once before, in 2005, and won the national championship that
season. Coach Kim Mulkey expected to challenge for more once Griner
arrived, but she didn’t expect it to happen so soon. With only Medlock
graduating, the Lady Bears could be back a few more times before
Griner’s done.
Griner had been a huge part of
Baylor’s NCAA tournament run this season. She shattered both the
single-game and tournament record for blocks.
While the freshman has been a
one-woman defensive force, UConn has been putting up its own staggering
numbers on defense. The Huskies had cruised through the first four
rounds allowing opponents to score just an average of 40 points.