Huskies Demolish Oregon
Stefanie Dolson recorded the second triple-double in Connecticut history, with a career-high 26 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists as the top-ranked Huskies ran away from Oregon 114-68 on Wednesday night.
Brenna Stewart had 28 points and eight rebounds and Bria Hartley added 17 points, six rebounds, and six assists for UConn (5-0).
Freshman Chrishae Rowe had 27 for the Ducks (2-2), just over her season average.
The Huskies never trailed. They used a 13-2 run to open up an early 18-point lead and ran away from there.
Oregon coach Paul Westhead had his run-and-gun team averaging almost 110 points a game this season. But the Huskies held the Ducks to 31 percent shooting, blocked 12 shots and outscored Oregon in the paint 64-28.
The only other triple-double in UConn history was recorded by Laura Lishness in 1989.
Dolson reached the milestone by passing the ball to Kiah Stokes for a short jumper with 1:20 left to record her 10th assist and got another one on a jumper by walk-on Birana Pulido a few seconds later.
The most points Connecticut has ever scored in a game is 126, in 1998 against Providence. The Huskies seemed poise to challenge that early, putting up 62 in the first half against the Ducks.
UConn used an 11-0 run to open up a 13-2 lead just three minutes into the game. Oregon closed the gap to seven before the Huskies made a 13-2 run to stretch it back out to 28-10.
A 3-point play by Dolson gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead at 42-22, just over 12 minutes into the game. The senior center, who had not scored more than 16 points in any of the Huskies first four games, had 17 at halftime as UConn led 62-35.
Moriah Jefferson had 14 points for UConn, Stokes added 12 and 13 rebounds and Brianna Banks had 10 points.
UConn’s opponents had been averaging 56 shot attempts per game. The Ducks attempted 88, 52 in the first half, but made just 27 of them.
A layup by Stokes gave UConn a 93-53 lead midway through the second half.
The biggest shock of the night came when the Ducks got a shot clock violation with 6:08 left in the first half. It wasn’t for lack of trying to score as they had their shot blocked three times during the possession.
Connecticut was coming off wins over three ranked teams in the last 10 days, and starting a string for four games in five days against unranked opponents.
The Huskies are hosting Boston University, Monmouth and St. Bonaventure in the Hall of Fame Challenge this weekend.
Former NBA and WNBA coach Paul Westhead had his run-and-gun team averaging almost 110 points a game this season.
The Ducks came in having attempted 266 shots in three games and broke the Pac-12 scoring record in their season opener, a 131-91 win over Cal State Bakersfield. Five Ducks came in averaging double figures, led by Rowe’s 26 points per game.
Jillian Alleyne, who sprained an ankle in the Ducks’ loss to Sacramento State on Sunday, wasn’t expected to play in this one. Last year’s Pac-12 freshman of the year had 15 points.
The Huskies beat Stanford, Maryland and Penn State by an average of more than 18 points, despite playing the last two games without post players Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck. Mosqueda-Lewis, a preseason All American, sustained a nerve contusion to her elbow during the Maryland game, and Tuck undergoing minor surgery to repair cartilage in her right knee. Both are expected to miss about a month.
The Huskies will have played 10 games by Dec. 5 and will have just 12 more before February.
Reprinted with permission from UConnHuskies.com
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