The UConn women won again, this time eking out a 92-31 victory over Towson Wednesday night.
The Huskies are now 7-0. That they defeated Towson -- even by 61 points -- isn't altogether surprising. But a pattern has emerged this young season: UConn has held opponents to fewer than 39 points five times, and they've yet to let a team score more than 58 points.
Some of that has to do with the competition, sure, but the Huskies also beat Stanford by 10 on November 21. And their next opponent, defending national champs Texas A&M, will pose a legitimate challenge, too. But for now, less than a month into the schedule, it's a footnote on what could be memorable season.
Against Towson, sophomore guard Bria Hartley score 24 points and freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who coach Geno Auriemma jokingly referred to as "Baby Jesus" last week (at least we think he was kidding) -- added 21. Put differently, Hartley and KML outscored Towson by 13 points.
The Associated Press notes that the Huskies, who had four players in double figures, have now won 163 straight against non-ranked opponents, and 256 in a row against the unranked at home.
UConn led 12-6 in the first half before a 17-0 run busted things wide open. The final 15 points on the 17-0 run came from beyond the arc, and KML had four 3-pointers in 180 seconds during the run. By half, the Huskies had made eight threes and converted 20 Towson turnovers into 28 points.
“We came out with high intensity and got our hands in passing lanes," Auriemma said of the team's ability to force turnovers. "Kelly [Faris], Tiffany [Hayes], they all do a good job of rotating and getting those steals.”
As for the Huskies offense, which extends behind the three-point line, Auriemma doesn't see that changing as the schedule gets tougher.
“If you don’t use it then you’re not taking advantage of the rules. There is a line out there so we’ve got to use it. We’ve got some players that are pretty good at knocking [three-pointers] down. It certainly gives you an advantage over teams that don’t shoot it. I’ve said one-third of our shots should be threes and tonight was exactly that.”
And it certainly helps when those shots are dropping.
“It’s a lot of fun," Mosqueda-Lewis said when asked about UConn's success from deep against Towson. "It’s a lot easier when your teammates are hitting shots and you don’t really have to worry about, okay Tiffany’s having an off day or I’m having an off day so we gotta focus more on getting it inside to Stefanie (Dolson). Everybody’s hitting you don’t really have to worry about anything, you just play.”
The Huskies don't play again until December 6 when they host Texas A&M.
