Connecticut Continues Its Slide, 82-77

Falling behind by 14 points early in a game to Connecticut used to mean certain defeat. But this has not been a typical year for the Huskies.

Eighth-ranked Old Dominion came back to defeat Connecticut, 82-77, after falling behind the No. 4 Huskies, 16-2, Saturday in a nonconference game at Norfolk, Va.

The loss drops the Huskies to 21-4, and with Rutgers’ upset of Notre Dame on Saturday, Connecticut, which used to dominate the Big East, is in a tie with the Lady Knights at 14-1.

Aubrey Eblin’s three-pointer with 9:13 left tied the score, 58-58, for the Lady Monarchs (19-3), and Lucienne Berthieu’s layup with 8:24 to play gave the Lady Monarchs their first lead, which they made stand.

Connecticut built a 42-36 halftime lead behind 67% shooting from the field. But Old Dominion’s pressure defense and offensive rebounding were too much for the Huskies. Old Dominion had a 20-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.

“In the second half, Old Dominion definitely did some great things,” Lady Monarch Coach Wendy Larry said. “ We did a banner job on the offensive glass.”

No. 9 Rutgers 77, No. 6 Notre Dame 57--Tomora Young scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half and the Lady Knights’ top-ranked defense held the Irish to its lowest point total of the season with a victory at Piscataway, N.J. The loss ended an 11-game winning streak for the Irish (20-3, 12-3 Big East). Linda Miles came off the bench and scored 17 points late and point guard Tasha Pointer added 15 and 10 assists for Rutgers (22-4, 14-1), which won its fifth in a row.

No. 10 Texas Tech 74, Missouri 68--Angie Braziel scored 28 points to lead the Red Raiders (21-3, 10-2 Big 12) over the Tigers (10-12, 3-9) at Lubbock, Texas. The victory kept the first-place Red Raiders a game ahead of Iowa State and Kansas in the Big 12 standings with four games remaining.

No. 16 Iowa St. 86, Colorado 70--Megan Taylor broke out of a shooting slump with 25 points and made five of the Cyclones’ school-record 16 three-point baskets in a victory over the Buffaloes (12-10, 5-7 Big 12) at Ames, Iowa. Desiree Francis added 17 points and three, three-pointers for Iowa State (17-5, 9-3). Taylor had made only 34% of her shots in the previous seven games, but was 10 of 17 from the field Saturday.

No. 21 Kansas 63, Nebraska 58--Brooke Reves scored 19 points while Lynn Pride and Nakia Sanford had double-doubles as the Jayhawks extended the nation’s third-longest home winning streak to 21 games with a victory over the Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) went up early, 9-4, but Kansas (18-6, 9-3) took a 14-12 lead with 9:08 left in the first half and never looked back.

No. 23 Oregon 67, Washington 57--Sonja Curtis made three three-point baskets and Shaquala Williams made two more during a late rally that lifted the Ducks past the Huskies (11-11, 7-6 Pac-10) at Seattle. Trailing, 54-46, with 4:05 remaining, the Ducks (20-5, 11-2) closed out the game with a 21-3 run that featured 11 points by Curtis and 10 by Williams, who finished with 24.

No. 24 Florida International 78, South Alabama 48--Zuzana Michalcova scored a game-high 18 and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds as the Golden Panthers defeated the Jaguars (7-13, 2-6 Sun Belt Conference) at Miami. The Golden Panthers (20-4, 8-2) scored 39 points in each half as double-doubles by Michalcova and Dalma Ivanyi (12 points, 11 assists) negated the one by South Alabama’s Bel Jordan (15 points, 12 rebounds).