By Mel Greenberg
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The way top-ranked Connecticut excelled in its “board” scores Monday night in an unbeatens battle of 1 vs. 2 against North Carolina, the Huskies performed as the Rhodes Scholars of women’s basketball.
UConn dominated the rebound stats 53-32 and torched the Tar Heels 88-58 to remain perfect at 18-0. North Carolina (17-1) suffered its first loss of the season.
“We played 17 games but this one was nothing like those others,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “They came into our house and showed us how to play basketball. It was never going to be a game if we didn’t rebound any better than we did.”
The Huskies went on a 9-0 run early in the game and had answers the rest of the way to counter any threat the Tar Heels attempted to toss.
North Carolina’s only positive statistic of the night in the Smith Center was an all-time attendance figure of 12,722.
The Tar Heels are using the more spacious men’s arena this season while their own Carmichael Auditorium is undergoing renovations.
In the home state of NASCAR, speed was a major factor from both teams which enjoy to zoom up and down the court.
“I think we surprised them a little,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “They’re fast. But we’re pretty fast also.”
The Huskies are also resilent.
Two days removed from a major roster loss when Germantown Academy’s Caroline Doty’s freshman season was cut short by a knee injury, Lorin Dixon stepped into the backcourt as a starter and kept the Huskies on the move.
“What can you say about a kid whose season has ended,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said of Doty’s second knee injury in two seasons including her senior high school year.
“You can’t. You put your arm around her and then you move on.”
Dixon was inserted as a starter a year ago when former senior guard Mel Thomas was hurt,
But she conceded her confidence level was much higher against the Tar Heels than her first start 12 months ago.
“I was like a deer in the headlights,” Dixon recalled last year’s situation after scoring 14 points and dealing six assists against UNC.
“After Caroline went down I was thinking as a team we just have to regroup and pull together,” Dixon said. “Now teams are going to think we have a weakness and just attack us. It was important that we all come together and just say we’re going to handle this the best we can and just work on our strengths.
“Caroline is a great three-point shooter,” Dixon continued. We’re just going to have to find a way to work around that.”
All five Connecticut starters scored in double figures with senior Renee Montgomery getting a game-high 21 points. The senior guard has a chance to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft considering Atlanta, which owns the pick, is believed to be looking for backcourt help from the senior collegiate class.
Sensational sophomore Maya Moore had an off night and still finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Tina Charles earned a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
North Carolina’s Italee Lucas had a team-high 15 points, while Rashanda McCants scored 13 points, and Jessica Breeland scored 10.
Hatchell praised the Huskies, saying, “They compete hard and they are extremely physical. This game was much, much more physical than any game we played this year and I think it bothered us, it got to us.
“But this is the way a game is going to be when you get into the NCAA (tournament) and play for a national championship.”
Connecticut’s players were prepared from the opening tip to set the tone of the marquee matchup.
“Our coaches told us whoever controls the paint is going to win the game and I think our post players took it to heart,” Montgomery said.
“Every night we need to prove ourselves because every night someone’s going to come out and have their best game and walk away feeling they did something good,” Montgomery said. “So every night we just come in with a mindset we have to play really well, especially coming in to play the No. 2 team in the country.
“I think we really came in focused.”
--Mel
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