Huskies’ women control No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup

The gap between No. 1 Connecticut and the rest of women’s basketball is apparently a lot bigger than anyone thought.

Renee Montgomery scored 21 points to help the Huskies rout No. 2 North Carolina, 88-58, on Monday night. Maya Moore added 19 points and 12 rebounds for Connecticut (18-0). The Huskies continually beat the Tar Heels’ trapping defense for easy baskets and had a 53-32 edge on the boards against a team whose coach is obsessed with rebounding.

“They compete hard and they are extremely physical,” said North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell, whose Tar Heels (17-1) were playing in front of a school-record crowd of 12,722 for a women’s home game. “This game was much, much more physical than any game we’ve played this year. And I think it bothered us, it got to us.”

It was North Carolina’s worst loss since falling 97-63 at Duke in February 2003.

“Carolina’s really good,” Huskies Coach Geno Auriemma said. “We just played really, really, really great basketball.”