UConn has Moore and that’s just too much

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maya Moore slipped into the post and stuck back a teammate’s miss. She pulled up and knocked down midrange jumpers. She drifted outside and buried 3-pointers.

There might not be a shot Connecticut’s young star doesn’t have – and nobody in this tournament has stopped her so far.

The freshman phenom had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her second straight 20-point postseason performance to lead top-seeded UConn past Old Dominion 78-63 in a Greensboro Regional semifinal Sunday.

“When you play teams that you aren’t really familiar with, it’s hard to get a feel for” them, Moore said. “Maybe at times, they’ve lost me, and I’m getting open 3s. It’s something that I’ve been doing throughout the season, and I’m going to continue to try to do (it).

“I’m not going to lose confidence just because we’re in the tournament,” she added. “I’m going to keep trying to score and attack teams (because) as we go on, the road’s going to get tougher and tougher.”

Renee Montgomery added 13 points for the Huskies (35-1), who never trailed, shot 47.5 percent and put the game away with a 20-1 run early in the second half. They earned their 14th straight victory, beat the Lady Monarchs for the second time this season and claimed their third straight berth in the round of eight.

Next up for coach Geno Auriemma’s powerhouse program: second-seeded Rutgers, which beat George Washington 53-42 in the other semifinal, with a spot in the Final Four on the line. UConn and Rutgers split in their two meetings during the Big East Conference season.

Tiffany Green had 15 points and 10 rebounds for fifth-seeded Old Dominion (31-5), which went 6 1/2 minutes between field goals and held the Huskies without a field goal for the final 9 1/2 minutes.

That too-little-too-late rally made the final score respectable in its first regional appearance since 2002 – when UConn beat the Lady Monarchs in the Mideast Regional finals.

“This is a perfect storm,” Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. “They are so deep, and their transition game is so good. … You have to play a perfect game to compete with them.”

The unquestioned star of this one was Moore, who took the Big East by storm in winning the league’s player of the year as a newcomer.

Coming off a 24-point game in a second-round win against Texas, Moore nearly had her 11th double-double by halftime, heading to the break with 12 points and seven rebounds.

“When you think about some of the great players in the women’s game … when it’s all said and done, Maya Moore will be one of those people,” Larry said.

Connecticut 78, Old Dominion 63

Old Dominion (31-5)–Pym 4-8 0-0 9, Walters 2-9 0-0 5, Williams 5-14 0-1 10, Jordan 1-5 0-0 3, T.Green 5-8 5-8 15, Canady 5-10 1-3 11, Little 0-0 0-0 0, S.Green 2-7 0-0 4, Parker 2-6 2-3 6, Nuzzo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 8-15 63.

Connecticut (35-1)–Swanier 2-5 0-0 4, Montgomery 4-14 4-6 13, Moore 10-20 2-4 25, McLaren 3-5 0-1 6, Hunter 4-6 2-2 10, Charles 3-7 4-6 10, Houston 3-3 4-4 10, Dixon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 16-23 78.

Halftime–Connecticut 43, Old Dominion 33. 3-Point Goals–Old Dominion 3-15 (Pym 1-2, Walters 1-4, Jordan 1-5, Parker 0-2, Canady 0-2), Connecticut 4-19 (Moore 3-10, Montgomery 1-8, Swanier 0-1). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Old Dominion 41 (Canady, T.Green 10), Connecticut 44 (Moore 11). Assists–Old Dominion 5 (Walters 3), Connecticut 15 (Montgomery, Swanier 4). Total Fouls–Old Dominion 19, Connecticut 15. A–NA.