Moore (28 points) leads UConn to Final 4
Connecticut forward Maya Moore (23) charges up court with the ball during the second half against Duke. (March 29, 2011) Credit: AP
PHILADELPHIA -- There were a couple of scary moments for UConn in the regional final Tuesday night, both involving Huskies star Maya Moore.
With 3:25 left in the first half and UConn up only 23-20 on Duke, Moore came flying in for an offensive rebound and nearly picked up her third foul. She escaped a call that could have changed the game.
The next one came with just under eight minutes left, when Moore bumped knees with Duke's Karima Christmas. Moore hobbled to the bench and shook off the bruise.
The difference was that Moore had done her damage. The Huskies were up 26 by then, and stormed to a 75-40 rout of Duke to advance to their fourth straight Final Four in a quest for a third straight national title. UConn (36-1) will face familiar foe Notre Dame on Sunday in Indianapolis.
Moore came back in for one more basket, to give her 28 points for the game and 3,000 for her career.
"I don't really think about it right now," said Moore, who was named to her fourth straight All-American team earlier Tuesday. "Of course, it's really exciting to be in a program where I've been able to flourish as an offensive player . . . All of us were really on the same page today. Every one of our starters had something that jumped off the score sheet."
UConn was led by Moore's 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals; North Babylon's Bria Hartley added 14 points.
The Huskies, however, could not pull away in the first half until Moore hit a three-pointer with 1:21 to go to up the lead to eight. Then she hit a baseline 15-footer at the buzzer for a 30-20 lead.
"It seemed like, for a little bit there, we were doing some dumb things," coach Geno Auriemma said.
Tiffany Hayes had two quick fouls and Moore had two before nearly getting that third.
"You just have to kind of cross your fingers and leave it up to them," Auriemma said.
The Huskies carried that 7-0 run to close the half. At the 10-minute mark of the second half, the run was 29-3 and the Blue Devils (32-4), who had a 36-point loss in Storrs two months ago, were suffering through a second nightmare.
"Offensively, we were just terrible," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
Her team shot 8 of 34 (23.5 percent) in the first half. "They shot 72 percent [18 of 25] in the second half," McCallie said. "Even if [Moore] is going to be hot, you have to be able to stop some other players."
