No. 2 UConn Knocks Off No. 9 Duke, 74-48

Sunday, November 25

St. Thomas, USVI

8:30 p.m.

Duke University

Connecticut

No. 2 UConn Knocks Off No. 9 Duke, 74-48

11/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) - Even in a sloppy game full of turnovers, second-ranked Connecticut kept its offense in rhythm.

Tina Charles had 13 points and eight rebounds and the Huskies beat No. 9 Duke 74-48 on Sunday night for the Paradise Jam championship.

Connecticut (5-0) took control in the opening minutes, led 40-24 at halftime and put the Blue Devils away in the second half with 11-for-22 shooting.

Both teams ran the floor aggressively, but the Huskies outrebounded the Blue Devils 35-28 and shot 53 percent from the floor while holding Duke to 36 percent.

Chante Black led Duke (5-1) with 16 points and three rebounds. Carrem Gay added six points.

It was the first meeting between the teams since the 2006 NCAA tournament, when Duke beat Connecticut in overtime for a spot in the Final Four.

First-year Duke coach Joanne McCallie, who suffered her first loss with the team, said this year's Connecticut team is one of the deepest she has seen.

"The outrebounded us, they played more physical than we did and they definitely shared the ball a little better than we did," she said. "They're ahead of us at this time of the year. They were very strong and very well balanced in their attack."

The Huskies jumped out to a 13-4 lead by scoring 13 unanswered points, including two long 3-pointers from the same spot by Montgomery. Charde Houston scored on an alley-oop from Moore to put Connecticut ahead 28-12 with eight minutes to play in the first half.

The teams traded baskets for the first part of the second half before Connecticut pulled away.

Eleven players scored for Connecticut, which got 29 points from their bench. The Huskies outscored the Blue Devils 27-17 on second-chance points and went 20-for-25 from the free throw line to keep their big lead down the stretch.