HARTFORD, Conn. — The LSU women’s basketball team gave top-ranked Connecticut all it could handle on Saturday, but the Huskies used a 16-2 run midway through the second half to outlast the Lady Tigers, 76-63, in front of 13,922 fans on Saturday at the XL Center.
LSU (6-5), which started three true freshmen, turned in a valiant effort against the nation’s unanimous No. 1 that featured five returning starters and two 2009 Wooden Award candidates in forward Maya Moore and guard Renee Montgomery.
UConn (13-0) faced its stiffest test to date but extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 31 consecutive games. The Huskies came into Saturday’s contest outscoring opponents by an astounding margin of 36.2 points.
Montgomery led all scorers with 21 points and Moore chipped in 17 points and 13 rebounds in a game the featured the only two women’s programs to reach five consecutive NCAA Final Fours. Montgomery keyed the second-half run and finished 4-of-10 from three-point range.
Junior guard Allison Hightower led LSU with 14 points ? 12 in the first half ? to reach double-figures for the sixth consecutive game. Freshman forward LaSondra Barrett added 13 points and six boards, and freshman center Ayana Dunning finished with 12 points and nine boards in her first career start.
LSU led for most of the first 10 minutes of the first half to a stunned XL Center crowd. The Lady Tigers slowed the game down to the disadvantage of the Huskies’ style of play.
Dunning displayed her perimeter range when she knocked down a baseline jumper and followed that up with a shot inside the three-point line that gave the Lady Tigers a 20-17 advantage with 11:08 to play. Hightower later buried one of her patented runners through the lane after Moore fired a three-pointer to tie the game at 24 all.
UConn finished the half with an 11-3 run highlighted by four straight points from Kaili McLaren. Montgomery gave the Huskies their biggest lead at the time, 39-31, on a three-pointer from the right wing as the shot clock was winding down.
Trailing 41-33 at the half, LSU cut the lead to two points in the first four minutes on layups from Katherine Graham and Destini Hughes. However, the Huskies forced two consecutive turnovers and eventually built the lead to 59-45 on a three-pointer from Montgomery with 10:30 to go.
Hightower fouled out for the second time in her career with 7:34 remaining, but Barrett kept the Lady Tigers alive with eight consecutive points. Dunning’s two free throws at the 5:19 mark cut the deficit to under double-digits at 65-56.
Montgomery again answered with a jumper at the 3:05 mark that put the game out of reach, 71-57.
The Lady Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to open Southeastern Conference play at Arkansas on Thursday, Jan 8. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. CST.