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Thursday, Jan. 20 7:00pm ET
No. 1 Huskies win 16th straight | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- Shea Ralph kept her team in the game almost single-handedly early on, and in the second half her top-ranked Connecticut teammates started to help out. Ralph scored 15 points in the first 11 minutes and finished with a season-high 27 Thursday night as Connecticut beat Holy Cross 89-51. The Huskies (16-0) are the only undefeated Division I women's team. "We've been here before," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "This is the first time this team has gone through this, but we are not too concerned about being No. 1 or undefeated." Holy Cross (15-6), which had the first sellout in the history of the program, had its 15-game home winning streak end. Holy Cross guard Anna Kinne connected on a 3-pointer to cut Connecticut's lead to 20-16. Ralph responded with a 3-pointer to start a 14-2 run that also featured four points apiece by Tamika Williams and Paige Sauer. "I hadn't been playing that well so I thought I owed it to myself and my teammates to step it up tonight," Ralph said. The Huskies led 47-27 at halftime and turned it into a rout with a 14-0 run to start the second half. Ralph, Connecticut's leading scorer at 15.6 points a game who also had six rebounds and five assists, gave Connecticut a 59-27 lead less than four minutes into the second half, stealing a pass and converting a layup. The Huskies defense clamped down in the second half and allowed just five points in the first eight minutes. "They are a great basketball team and in my 15 years of coaching, I think they're the best I've coached against," Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons said. "Shea is a terrific player and they have so many weapons. Tonight it was Ralph and the next game it'll be someone else." Swin Cash scored 11 points for Connecticut and Kelly Schumacher 10. Jeanette Paukert led the Crusaders with 13 points and Kinne added 12, all on 3-pointers. The 38-point win wasn't the biggest margin of victory for UConn this season. The Huskies defeated Pittsburgh 88-36 on Jan. 15. Holy Cross gave UConn a scare two seasons ago, but sustained the worst defeat in the history of the program in a 51-point loss last year at the Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 8-2, with the last Holy Cross victory coming in 1986. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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