HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) (January, 24, 2006) -- Barbara Turner had 16 points and seven rebounds and Brittany Hunter scored 11 points to lead No. 5 Connecticut to a 77-47 victory over USF on Tuesday night.
“I think a lot of people struggled tonight,” said USF head coach Jose Fernandez. “I'm just not very happy with the way that the team is playing right now. I don't think that we played very well since coming back from Puerto Rico. Hand it to Connecticut. I think that they are a different team since they played North Carolina. Teams get better as the season progresses. But we're not a very good basketball team right now. But hand it to them (UConn) they brought a ton of energy and a ton of enthusiasm and they made plays. They did everything that they wanted to do tonight. I'm very disappointed and I'm embarrassed that we didn't give a better showing.”
The Huskies (18-2, 7-0 Big East) held Jessica Dickson (Ocala, Fla.), the nation's leading scorer, to a season-low six points, all in the first half. She was averaging 24.7 points but UConn defenders, especially Mel Thomas, gave the 5-foot-11 junior few open looks. Dickson, who came out of the game with just under 9 minutes to play, had scored in double figures in 34 consecutive games.
Charde Houston scored 10 points for UConn, which has won its last six games. Point guard Renee Montgomery ran the Huskies' uptempo attack and tied her career high with nine assists. The Huskies had 21 points on fastbreaks.
Shantia Grace (Sarasota, Fla.) led the Bulls (13-7, 3-4) with 12 points and five assists. Sharon Cambridge (Miami, Fla.) added 10 points and Ezria Parsons (Bushnell, Fla.) had eight rebounds.
The Huskies lead the short series 3-0 but it was the first meeting since the Bulls joined the Big East. Last season, the Huskies beat USF 75-67 in the first overtime game for the UConn women at Gampel Pavilion.
This time, however, the Huskies got out quickly in transition and opened the game with a 13-2 run. Ann Strother and Thomas each had 3-pointers off the break. UConn needed all of that cushion as the Bulls hit five of their next six shots. But Dickson had just one basket in the rally.
Shantia Grace's pullup jumper got the Bulls within 24-19 with 6:38 remaining. The Huskies quickly called a timeout to regroup and went to work in the paint.
Hunter had seven points in a 9-2 run, largely on inside baskets and the Huskies led 43-29 at halftime. UConn hit seven of its first 10 shots to open the second half and the Bulls never recovered.
UConn outscored the Bulls 40-6 in the paint.
