Uconn Cakewalk Wins No Longer Routine Despite Coach’s Skepticism, Defending Women’s Champs Knock Off Unc, 77-62
While Connecticut will still beat a lot of teams by double-digit margins, coach Geno Auriemma says the Huskies won’t routinely dominate like they did last year.
“These days of watching us play pretty basketball, up and down and go up by 25. … those days are over,” Auriemma said Saturday after Connecticut beat No. 24 North Carolina 77-62 in the Central Fidelity Invitational.
Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters, hold-overs from last season’s unbeaten national champions, scored 20 points apiece for the Huskies. Rizzotti added seven assists and seven rebounds, and Wolters had 12 rebounds.
The second-ranked Huskies (4-1) shot 57 percent, led by Wolters’ 9-for-12 shooting and Rizzotti’s 7-for-11 shooting. The Tar Heels (1-1), meanwhile, were held to 33 percent shooting.
“What you saw was their experience and our inexperience,” said North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell, whose team fell behind 19-4 in the first 9 minutes. “The way we started, it looked like we were very intimidated.”
The Tar Heels recovered from the 15-point deficit, though, and pulled to 37-32 by halftime. Tracy Sadler scored 11 of her 15 points in the half, nine coming on three 3-pointers within a span of about 5 minutes.
After halftime, the Huskies’ experience showed again. Leading just 43-41 with 17 minutes left, they used a 14-5 run to take control. Jamelle Elliott had six points in the run, and Nykesha Sales added five of her 12.
Given the chance to slow things, the Huskies relied on Rizzotti to set the tempo and Wolters to come up with key baskets.
“A running game would have favored them,” Rizzotti said. “We like to make people play to our pace. We ran when we wanted to run.”
Wolters, who spent a long stretch on the bench with four fouls, scored eight of her points in the final 7:20, using her array of inside moves and effective baby hooks to score almost at will against the smaller Tar Heels.
“Right around the basket, she’s the best,” Hatchell said of Wolters. “Her little baby hooks - right hand, left hand - it’s real good.”
The second game of the first round had No. 23 Alabama playing against host Richmond, with the winners and losers squaring off today.
North Carolina, which won the national title in Richmond two years ago, was led by Sadler’s 15 points and Tracy Reid’s 10.
Reid, who led the Tar Heels with 20 points in their season opener, went to the bench with 11:28 left in the half after drawing her third foul. It was then that North Carolina seemed to come together, outscoring UConn 28-22 the rest of the way to get the margin to 37-32 by the intermission.
“I got a little frustrated there for a while,” said Reid, who left the bench for a few minutes after drawing No. 3. “Coach told me I needed to calm down. The team stepped it up without me, though.”