No. 1 Connecticut 65, Syracuse 59

1/15/2008 9:37 PM

By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -Befuddled in the first half by the Syracuse defense, Maya Moore awoke in the second and helped top-ranked Connecticut remain unbeaten.

Moore scored all 13 of her points in the second half and grabbed 17 rebounds to help the Huskies rallied past the improving Orange 65-59 on Tuesday night.

Syracuse, which shot 48.5 percent (16-for-33) in the first half and led by as many as nine, went cold after Nicole Michael's layup gave the Orange a 41-32 lead with 18:40 left. Syracuse went 3-for-14 and failed to get a basket for 8:20 as the Huskies stormed back with a 19-4 run despite some sloppy ballhandling that led to 23 turnovers.

Moore's follow started the spurt and her three-point play tied it at 45-all with 12:00 left. The freshman's layup gave the Huskies the lead at 11:32 and they held it the remainder of the game.

``Syracuse did an excellent job taking advantage of our inability to lock down defensively and shots were falling for them,'' said Moore, who has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season. ``I wasn't aggressive as I should have been offensively.''

A layup by Tina Charles put UConn up 59-50 with 5:30 left and two free throws by Kaili McLaren made it 61-51 with 3:43 to go.

``We got up 10 and I still felt like we were down five,'' Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. ``I didn't think there was an easy way for us to guard them with our big guys in there. They made it really hard for us to keep them in front of us. They had mismatches all over the floor.''

Syracuse (14-3, 2-2 Big East) began the season 13-1 and won a school-record 12 in a row before losing 85-75 Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.

The Orange refused to fold against a team that won its first 15 games by an average of 41 points. Chandrea Jones hit a 3 from left wing and a three-point play by Vionca Murray had the Orange within 61-58 with 1:14 left.

Then freshman guard Erica Morrow threw up an air-ball 3 off an inbounds pass and Syracuse couldn't finish the comeback.

``Morrow was wide-open and had the shot,'' Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said. ``She missed, but we'd run it again. I'll run that play at the end of every game for the next 3 1/2 years. I have a lot of faith in her.''

It was the 29th straight regular-season victory for Connecticut (16-0, 4-0), but unlike the Huskies' first 15 games of the season it was a struggle all the way.

``Syracuse played really well for a huge majority of the game,'' Auriemma said. ``In order for upsets to happen, the team that's supposed to win has to play bad, and the team that is trying to upset them have to play a perfect game almost, or a great game. And tonight it almost happened.''

Almost.

Charde Houston hit a jumper in the lane with 38 seconds left, her only basket of the game, and Renee Montgomery sank two free throws with 11.2 seconds left to secure the triumph.

``At the end of the game, our experience came out,'' said Montgomery, who had 14 points. ``We've been in tight games and that experience helped us close the game.''

Mel Thomas led UConn with 15 points, but injured her right knee with about 2 minutes remaining. Auriemma did not know the extent of the injury but said she would be examined Wednesday. McLaren had a season-high eight points, while Charles, who had four straight double-doubles, finished with six points and seven rebounds.

Jones led the Orange with 18 points and Michael had 13. Fantasia Goodwin, Syracuse's second-leading scorer at 14.3 points, finished with seven points and had only three rebounds, seven below her season average.

In winning its first 15 games, UConn only trailed 9:07. Against the fired-up Orange, who were buoyed by a women's record crowd of 4,221 that included the Syracuse men's team, the Huskies fell behind after Michael scored twice in the first 1:07 and trailed for 12:53 of the first half as Moore missed all three of her shots and Charles was hit with two early fouls and scored only four points.

Murray's three-point play at 10:11 broke a 15-all tie and gave the Orange a lead they did not relinquish until midway through the second half.

After Montgomery hit a wide-open 3 from right wing to bring the Huskies within 22-20 at 6:27, Syracuse went on a 10-3 run to open a nine-point lead.

The Huskies, who had limited seven opponents to less than 40 points and entered the game leading the nation in average points allowed at 43.4 per game, rallied behind two strong layups by McLaren and a 3 by Thomas to trail 36-32 at halftime.

``People doubted us, if we would be able to compete,'' said Morrow, a McDonald's All-American in high school at Murry Bergtraum in New York who spurned offers from Louisville and Georgia Tech to play for the Orange. ``But we lost by six, so we showed we can compete with the top teams in the country.''