The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
45°F
Current Conditions
Moderate rain
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

The end of a long journey

UMBC's Heather Luttrell, Sharri Rohde, and Carlee Cassidy, left to right, react to their team's 82-33 loss to Connecticut. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Pat Eaton-robb Associated Press Writer
UMBC's Heather Luttrell, Sharri Rohde, and Carlee Cassidy, left to right, react to their team's 82-33 loss to Connecticut. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

HARTFORD, Conn. – UMBC spent 15 hours traveling on a bus through a major winter storm to get to its first-ever NCAA tournament.

UConn gave the Retrievers a rude welcome.

Renee Montgomery scored 19 points and Charde Houston added 15 to help top-seeded UConn rout Maryland-Baltimore County 82-33 on Sunday night in the Fresno Regional.

The Huskies (30-3), who hadn’t played since losing the Big East championship game to Rutgers on March 6, were ahead just 6-5 three minutes into the game, before Houston led them on a 10-3 run.

The Retrievers (16-17) had no answers for her. She had 15 first-half points and hit seven of her first nine shots.

When UMBC decided to collapse on Houston, she kicked the ball outside to Montgomery, or to Tina Charles and Kalana Greene on the other side of the post.

Greene finished with 12, and Charles had 10. The easy looks resulted in the Huskies shooting 60 percent from the floor.

“When it looks good, it looks really good,” Uconn coach Geno Auriemma said. “At the same time… there is a big disparity in talent between who we had on the floor and who (UMBC coach) Phil (Stern) had on the floor.”

UMBC managed to stay close at 29-20, but UConn ended the half with a 12-0 run and scored the first nine points of the second half. They coasted from there to the program’s 14th consecutive first-round win.

The Retrievers tried to stay in the game by shooting 3-pointers, but hit just three of their first 17, and 5 of 24 for the game. They shot just 25 percent from the field.

UMBC coach Phil Stern said he would like to have seen his team get a few more backdoor cuts out of their Princeton-style offense.

“We’re a good 3-point shooting team. We probably settled a little too much tonight,” hesaid. “But, we’re not used to playing a team as big and strong and fast as UConn.”

UConn will play Wisconsin-Green Bay in the second round on Tuesday. The Phoenix beat New Mexico 59-52 on Sunday, and are riding a 26-game winning streak, the second longest in the nation.

“They are well coached and they’ve got kids that understand their roles, and they don’t get rattled when they get down. You can tell that they’re used to winning,” Auriemma said. “But so are we.”

Sunday’s victory gives UConn its 12th 30-win season. The Huskies went undefeated in the Big East to win the regular-season title, and had won 15 consecutive games before the 55-47 loss to Rutgers in the conference tournament.

UConn has won five national championships and is making its 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. But there are no seniors on the team and the Huskies’ four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen have never been to a Final Four. UConn won the last of its five national titles in 2004.

If the Huskies win two more games, they could face a regional final matchup with second-seeded Stanford, which would have about a three-hour drive to Fresno.

UMBC’s went 3-7 in its final 10 games of the regular season before making its conference tournament run.