UConn women take Big East title again
Connecticut's Bria Hartley, center, drives past Notre Dame's Frederica Miller, left, and Natalie Achonwa during the first half an NCAA college basketball game in the final of the Big East tournament in Hartford, Conn. (March 8, 2011) Credit: AP
HARTFORD -- Stefanie Dolson scored 24 points and Maya Moore 22 to help No. 1 Connecticut win its fourth straight Big East women's basketball tournament championship with a 73-64 victory over 10th-ranked Notre Dame last night.
UConn (32-1) has won 20 straight games since losing to Stanford on Dec. 30 to snap the Huskies' record 90-game winning streak. It was the 21st time in the past 23 seasons that they were in the title game.
The Huskies have won 17 Big East championships.
Notre Dame was making its first trip to the championship since 2001, when the Irish lost to UConn on a buzzer-beater by Sue Bird.
Natalie Novosel scored 17 points to lead Notre Dame (26-7).
Leading 41-40 early in the second half, UConn went on an 11-0 run.
Moore, who earned tournament MVP for the second time in her career, had three points and two assists during the burst. She also had a block on Skylar Diggins' drive that led to an easy layup on the other end by Bria Hartley.
Moore followed that with a three-pointer from the corner with 12:44 left to cap the spurt and tie her with Penn State great Kelly Mazzante for ninth place on the career NCAA scoring list with 2,919 points.
Notre Dame didn't go away, going on a 15-6 spurt to close to 58-55 with 5:07 left. Novosel, who had left the game at the end of UConn's spurt, returned a few minutes later and scored the final seven points of the Irish's burst.
Moore wouldn't let Notre Dame get any closer, hitting a jumper from the corner to move past Mazzante. Dolson followed with a layup to restore the seven-point lead. The 6-5 freshman center matched her career high set two days earlier against Georgetown.
The Irish couldn't get within five the rest of the game. The Irish fell to 0-9 against UConn in the Big East Tournament.-- AP
