Moore ties season-high with 23 points in 90-35 romp for No. 1 UConn

UConn’s Moore ties season-high with 23 points

STORRS, Conn. — Maya Moore and top-ranked Connecticut had another easy night.

On Wednesday, the Huskies season is about to get a lot harder.

Moore tied a season high with 23 points to lead the Huskies to yet another blowout, 90-35 over Iona on Sunday night.

She reached 20 points for the sixth time in nine games this season, despite playing just 24 minutes.

“If I played her 40, she’d get 35 every night,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She gets 20 by accident.

“She better get 40 Wednesday.”

Tiffany Hayes scored 15 points, Meghan Gardler had 14, and Kalana Greene added 13 points for UConn. The Huskies (9-0) shot 54 percent from the field and forced 34 turnovers.

Diana Hubbard scored 10 points for Iona (3-7).

The Huskies have won all of their games by at least 25 points and average a 46.4-point margin of victory going into Wednesday’s game against No. 2 Stanford.

Coming off a 10-day break for exams, UConn looked sluggish early but used a trap defense to take control midway through the first half. Leading 8-7 at the 5-minute mark, the Huskies scored 14 straight points to take a 22-7 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

UConn shot 59 percent in first half and forced 18 turnovers by Iona to build a 45-18 lead at halftime.

“We weren’t happy with our performance, especially the first five minutes,” Moore said. “I thought midway through the first half that we just got aggressive, got in the passing lane, got some good momentum plays and made defensive stops.”

Later in the half, Moore made three straight baskets in 10-0 run to give the Huskies a 37-14 lead. She scored six of UConn’s first eight points in the second half.

“Maya is an offensive player, she’s a scoring machine. So as long as you have her out on the floor you don’t have to worry about points being scored,” Auriemma said.

Against the No. 2 Cardinal, she’ll need to be to keep alive the Huskies’ 48-game winning streak that started at the beginning of last season.

It’s the third-longest streak in NCAA Division I women’s history. The Huskies hold the longest one — 70 from 2001-2003. Louisiana Tech has the second-longest streak — 54 games from 1980-82.

Stanford beat third-ranked Tennessee 67-52 on Saturday.