Top-ranked Connecticut beats No. 7 North Carolina 88-47 for 54th consecutive win
By Pat Eaton-robb, APSaturday, January 9, 2010
No. 1 UConn beats No. 7 North Carolina 88-47
STORRS, Conn. — Tina Charles scored all of her 25 points in the first half and grabbed 13 rebounds to help top-ranked Connecticut rout No. 7 North Carolina 88-47 on Saturday and win their 54th consecutive game.
The streak ties one Louisiana Tech made from 1980-82 as the second-longest in Division I women’s basketball history. UConn also has the longest streak, 70 straight between 2001 and 2003.
The Huskies have run through their opponents during the current streak, winning every game by at least double digits. Connecticut has really turned it on against the nine top 10 teams its faced, winning by an average of just over 27 points.
Tiffany Hayes had 15 points and three players recorded double doubles for UConn. Maya Moore had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kalana Greene added 11 points and 10 boards for the defending national champions, who are 15-0 for the third consecutive season.
She’la White scored nine to lead North Carolina (13-2), which had only lost to Michigan State before Saturday.
North Carolina ran with UConn early and jumped out to a 10-7 lead 3½ minutes into the game. Then UConn took over.
A basket by Moore forced UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell to call her first timeout 5 minutes later with UConn up 22-10. The bucket was part of a 23-0 UConn run that ended when North Carolina’s White hit a 3-pointer that made it 30-13.
By that time, Charles already had 17 points. She had outscored the entire North Carolina team 25-24 at halftime, hitting 11 of her 14 shots. She played just 9 minutes in the second half.
That’s the most points since Moore had 25 points at halftime of a game against Marquette during her freshman year. She finished that game with 31.
UConn led 56-24 at the break. Midway through the second half it was 73-35.
Moore has hit double figures in 90 of her 92 games at UConn.
Connecticut has beaten four ranked teams this season, with wins earlier over Stanford, Florida State and Texas. The Huskies face No. 3 Notre Dame next Saturday.
Carolina senior star Jessica Breland, who recently finished five months of chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, returned to practice this week and was on the bench Saturday. She’s expected to redshirt this season.
The Tar Heels, who normally shoot about 46 percent from the field, were held to just 22 percent, hitting only 17 of 76 shots, their worst shooting performance of the year. Their previous low was 36 percent against the Spartans.
North Carolina and UConn have each won five games during their 10-game series, but UNC is 1-3 in Connecticut.
The Tar Heels are now 2-26 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, including getting walloped at home, 88-58, last season by UConn in a 1 vs 2 showdown that sent North Carolina into a tailspin.
