STORRS, Conn. – Midnight came early ending Florida’s Cinderella dreams of pulling off perhaps the biggest upset in NCAA Women’s Tournament history.
Buoyed by Ball State’s upset of Tennessee in the first round, coach Amanda Butler’s No. 22 Gators dreamed of upsetting unbeaten and top-ranked Connecticut on its own floor at the Gampel Pavilion Tuesday night in the second round of the tournament.
Those dreams ended shortly after the opening tipoff as UConn coach Geno Auriemma’s talented and deep team totally dominated Florida in the first half and cruised to an 87-59 victory to improve to 35-0 this season.
The Huskies made four big runs in the first half while taking a 47-26 lead while dominating the rebound battle, 34-13 in the first half and 46-22 for the game. Plus, UConn point guard Renee Montgomery and her teammates held Florida’s Sha Brooks to 0 points in the first half and just 8 for the game before fouling out, three of the fouls coming before halftime.
Montgomery scored a game-high 25 points and had five assists, while center Tina Charles and forward Maya Moore had 22 points each. Moore had 14 rebounds and Charles 10 for the Huskies, who shot 49.1 percent from the floor (28 of 57) while holding Florida to 31.3 percent (20 of 64).
Senior forward Marshae Dotson ended her career with a team-high 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added six rebounds. Lonnika Thompson had 11 points coming off the bench. Three-point specialist Steffi Sorensen scored 9 points on three 3-pointers, none in the second half, while shooting 3-of-11 from the field. Brooks went 3-for-10, including 1-for-6 beyond the 3-point stripe.
Any hopes the Gators (24-8) had of winning were dashed quickly by UConn’s defense and dominance on the boards. Florida missed its first six shots and was held scoreless by UConn in the first 4:01 of the game before Thompson scored on a layup following a Sharielle Smith steal. The Huskies led 5-2 after that basket and quickly answered with a 3-pointer by Moore for an 8-2 lead.
It didn’t help that Brooks, playing in her last game as a Gator, had one of her worst games in an Orange and Blue uniform. She was held to 0 points in the first half, while UConn’s point guard Montgomery led the way for her team with 15 points. Brooks had two quick fouls in the first 92 seconds of the game before Butler called a timeout to replace her.
The Huskies then built on their lead by holding Florida scoreless for almost two minutes from the 14:03 mark and then held the Gators scoreless for another two minutes while opening a 17-12 lead halfway through the first 20 minutes.
An 8-0 run by the Huskies, culminated by Charles’ layup at 8:33, had UConn ahead 25-12. But with Dotson playing tough inside, the Gators trailed by only six, 26-20, with 6:57 left in the half when Auriemma asked for a 20-second timeout seven seconds later.
When play resumed, Tiffany Hayes hit a free throw to start a 13-0 UConn run over the next 3:35 to open up a 39-20 lead before Sorensen ended the drought by draining a 3-pointer with 3:15 to play. The Huskies finished the half with another run, this of 8-3, Florida’s final points coming on Sorensen’s 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining that sent the teams to the locker room with UConn up 47-26.
The Gators held the Huskies to 37.1 percent shooting (13 of 35) in the first half but their own 30.3 effort (10 of 33). What really killed Florida was UConn’s dominance on the board, a 34-13 advantage, including 16-5 edge on the offensive end.