UConn delivered an early Christmas present to the fans in Uncasville by blowing out UCLA, 86-50, on Sunday evening. Junior All-American Breanna Stewart scored 22 points and the Huskies moved to 8-1 on the season.
"Traditionally, this is one of the hardest games to play," Coach Geno Auriemma said after the game. "There is a lot going on, you aren't sure if everyone is mentally here or not here. Sometimes you think that things will be easier than what they seem and it sometimes takes some time to get adjusted to that. Our defense was really good for the most part in both halves. It's just offensively, when we are not in sync, we are not very good. Then all of a sudden we go on a couple runs. When we are good we are good but when we aren't we are something other than good."
UConn is 6-0 since losing to Stanford back on Nov. 17. They've won by 36 or more in each game.
"We've gotten better in the last month since November," Auriemma said, via the Associated Press. "We've gotten a lot better. I think we found out today that we need to get a lot better. We gave up 19 offensive rebounds, that's a lot."
Four other players scored in double figures, including freshmen Gabby Williams (12) and Kia Nurse (11), along with frontcourt veterans Morgan Tuck and Kia Stokes (10 each). Stokes also led the team with 10 rebounds.
It's rare to see a freshman as a point scorer, but it's a role Nurse is embracing.
"Definitely, in my role outside the [Canadian] national team, I was always in the role of being a scorer and being a leader in that sense," she said, via the team's website. "It was just a matter of getting back into that role and where I was. The roles change here and there depending on the places but I'm really comfortable with the role that I have here."
And the Huskies appear to be settling in, too. They play again on Saturday when they host SMU.
