STORRS, Conn. — Maya Moore scored a game-high 26 points with 12 rebounds and top-ranked Connecticut won the World Vision Challenge and its 84th consecutive game, 81-51, over the LSU women’s basketball team in front of 8,120 fans in Gampel Pavilion on Sunday.
The Lady Tigers dropped to 4-4 and conclude their road trip with their fourth game in five days at Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday in Thibodaux. Please note that the game time is 6:30 p.m. and not 7 p.m. as previously listed.
The Huskies (6-0) improved to 6-1 all-time against LSU and stand four victories away from tying John Wooden’s legendary UCLA men’s win streak of 88 consecutive games.
Moore was unstoppable on both ends of the floor, finishing 11-of-18 for the game with two blocks in 37 minutes. Tiffany Hayes had 20 points and was 8-of-8 from the free throw line, while Bria Hartley and Stephanie Dolson chipped in 15 and 11 points, respectively.
“They are very difficult to defend,” said LSU head coach Van Chancellor. “We played a box-and-one, a triangle-and-two, we played man and we had no answer. She (Maya Moore) still scored 26 points. She might be as good as I’ve ever seen, including (Diana) Taurasi.
“I thought we battled. I thought we played hard, and I was really pleased with the first half. We did some really good things in the first half but couldn’t sustain it.”
LaSondra Barrett led LSU with 12 points – all in the first half – and six rebounds. Adrienne Webb had 11 points, her seventh double-figure game of the season, highlighted by three three-pointers in the first half. The freshman reached double-figures in six games the entire 2009-10 season.
The Lady Tigers gave the Huskies all they could handle in the first 10 minutes of the game. LSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead and extended the advantage to 9-6 on a jumper by Katherine Graham with 15:47 in the first stanza. UConn then took control when Moore converted a tip-in for her first points of the game at the 14:42 mark.
That ignited a 14-0 run that featured six LSU turnovers over the next four minutes courtesy of the Huskies’ defensive full court pressure. Webb finally ended the drought with another three and Destini Hughes dropped a trey of her own to cut the margin. Barrett added a jumper and a three pointer to make it 35-26 with 6:39 remaining in the half.
LSU took confidence into halftime trailing by only 10 points, 46-36.
“I thought at halftime we were in a good position,” Chancellor said. “We told our kids if we rebound the ball and take care of the ball we have a shot. We end up getting beat on the boards and give up 19 offensive boards.”
The Huskies, however, answered the challenge right out of the locker room with a 12-2 spurt. The lead grew to 20 points until freshman Jeanne Kenney made back-to-back threes. Those shots and a Webb three were the only field goals for LSU in a span of nine minutes. UConn tacked on a 15-0 run to put it out of reach.
Moore’s offensive rebound and putback made it 79-46 with 3:36 left in the game. Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma lifted all of his starters with 3:36 to go. The Huskies outscored LSU, 35-15, in the final period.
The Lady Tigers shot 35.8 percent for the game and were dominated on the glass, 46-28, including giving up 19 offensive boards. UConn finished at 42.4 percent from the floor and was 17-of-19 from the free throw line.