Not even a slow start can stop the Huskies. Overcoming some uncharacteristically poor shooting, Maya Moore showed why UConn is the favorite to win its third straight title.
Moore finished with 23 points, including a jumper and two clutch free throws, that put the finishing touches on a 68-63 victory yesterday over Georgetown at the Liacouras Center.
“We started to hit some big shots when we needed to, we never hung our heads,” Moore said.
The top-ranked Huskies (35-1) will take on No. 2 Duke in the Elite 8. With three more wins, Connecticut will earn its second three-peat under coach Geno Auriemma. It would be UConn’s eighth title, which would match Tennessee for the most in NCAA women’s history.
“We’re fortunate that we made some huge plays within the last seven or eight minutes and when it was time for our team to win the game we stepped up and won the game,” Auriemma said.
UConn shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the first half. After the break, however, the coach showed why his Huskies are the two-time defending champions. In the final 13 minutes, Auriemma switched to a smaller lineup and put an emphasis on defense. Senior Lorin Dixon came up big with four steals.
“When I went in, coach was talking about pushing up the defense,” Dixon said. “That’s basically what I went in with, just trying to go in there and bring energy to the team.”
