WBB Roundup – Tuesday, Nov. 22
Connecticut (3-0) showed plenty of resolve in an early-season clash of top-5 programs as No. 2/4 UConn held off No. 3/5 Stanford 68-58 before more than 13,000 fans at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., on Monday night. BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis poured in 25 points for the second straight game and sophomore Bria Hartley added 19.
UConn led 32-26 at the break. Mosqueda-Lewis had 19 points at the half and Hartley had 11. The two were 12-of-18 for 30 points, while the rest of the Huskies were 0 for 17.
Trailing by six at the half, Stanford (3-1) went on a 10-2 run to start the second half, led by Nnemkadi Ogwumike. Her layup gave Stanford a 36-34 lead. UConn answered as sophomore Stefanie Dolson hit a layup – ending an 0-for-24 drought by the other Huskies to start the game—that began a 15-6 burst.
Mosqueda-Lewis has totaled 50 points in her last two games (57 minutes). She has yet to start a contest in her three-game collegiate career.
“There are some things I’ll share with you down the road,” Auriemma said laughing. “She (Mosqueda-Lewis) is a basketball player and her reputation is she’s a shooter coming out of high school. Shooters fill up the box that says shot attempts. There were a lot of numbers in a lot of boxes under her name. A lot of things she does intangibly.”
The rookie also had eight rebounds, two steals and an assist.
“Tonight was Connecticut’s night,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “They really were on a mission and I wouldn’t take anything away from what they did. It was like a November heavyweight fight,” VanDerveer continued. “It was extremely physical and very good for our team to see that and get ready for it.”
Dolson used her improving stamina, willing muscle and disruptive wingspan to collect nine points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
Stanford shot only 23 for 62 (37.1 percent), turned the ball over 16 times.
“We played so hard for 40 minutes,” Auriemma said. “That’s one of the better defensive efforts I’ve seen us have in a long, long time.”
Other action around the league saw No. 21/16 Georgetown (3-2) knock off Monmouth 64-44 at home. Senior Tia Magee had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Georgetown outrebounded Monmouth 43-32 and forced Monmouth into 21 turnovers to eventually cruise to victory in a game that was at one point tied 34-all.
Material from interviews, the Associated Press wire service as well as league and team sources was used in this report.
