Some might think having their relatives over for the Thanksgiving holiday is a little scary.

Try hosting the No. 1 team in t he country on your home court.

The BYU women's basketball team faced the No. 1 University of Connecticut Tuesday night in the Marriott Center and lost 96-47.

It was UConn's first game on the road and the Huskies shot an impressive 60.3 percent on the night.

"It took us a while to get a rhythm," UConn coach Chris Dailey said "But when once we got it I felt like we were pretty good at it."

Dailey added the Huskies found out they needed to just stay with it and realize "that every game is not going to be that we get off to a 23-nothing start and cruising from there. Sometimes you just got to grind it out and just let the game play out."

UConn had six players in double figures, with sophomore forward Maya Moore leading the way with 14 points. Moore also had a striking 14 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals.

"She lets it come," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. "She reads what the defense gives her. She doesn't try to force it."

Another notable leader was Renee Montgomery, who finished with 19 points and 5-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line.

"She wants to make plays," Dailey said. "She never has been worried about what the situation is."

Sophomore Mindy Neilson led the Cougars with 14 points and Keilani Moeaki added 10 points.

BYU came out with a spark and impressed an anxious crowd. After a quick Huskie basket and three-pointer, Moeaki snuck one in from baseline for the first Cougar basket.

"I don't think we came out like deer in headlights," Judkins said. "I think we came out with a lot of confidence."

BYU sophomore Jazmine Foreman started off strong with an early 3-pointer that brought BYU to within two, 7-5.

When BYU was about to tie it up with a big shot under the basket from Moeaki, she was called for a charge.

Pressure forced air balls on both sides and the Cougars got caught in a few fouls from their aggressive defense.

Junior forward Kaili McLaren of UConn went to the line and made both to put them up 12-7.

Coriann Wood also drew a foul and made both free throws to hang with the Huskies within three points.

"We knew we could give them a game," Wood said. "We showed that in the first half."

But some sharp UConn shots from behind the 3-point line created more and more distance.

The Huskies shot 15 3-pointers in the first half, making seven. Montgomery made 4-of-5 3-pointers and led all scorers at the half with 16 points.

Despite the stats, the Cougars tried to fight through the opposition.

"We didn't play well enough to stay with their [the Huskies'] intensity," Judkins said.

BYU freshman Kristen Riley battled UConn's 6-foot-4 center Tina Charles in the key and was able to force a turnover, giving the ball to Neilson to score a quick two points to make it 24-13.

A fast break found Moeaki under the basket to put in two and draw a foul to increase the lead to 31-17 with less than five minutes left in the half.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Foreman and Neilson hoped to change the momentum, but UConn had back-to-back steals and lay ups the next runs down the court.

Just before the half, the Cougars found Cassie King under the basket for two and added one more from the foul.

Neilson answered a Huskie three, in the last five seconds to bring them into the locker room trailing by 18. It was the closest the Cougars would be from that point.

The second half was less promising for BYU as they seemed more rushed to get shots off and sloppier on defense.

UConn controlled the end of the game, forcing BYU turnovers.

Just when the crowd thought BYU was done, Moeaki added the last basket to the scoreboard for the final score, 96-47.

"Even though the score was what it was," Wood said, "we learned that to be a good team we have to put together 40 minutes."



Copyright Brigham Young University 1 Dec 2008