Huskies Put On No. 1 Show

MILWAUKEE —  It’s almost not fair.

The Connecticut women’s basketball team has the most talent, a great coach, a large and loyal fan base, an average margin of victory of about 37 points a game and an undefeated season going.

So when the top-ranked Huskies didn’t miss a field-goal attempt or a free throw for the first 10 minutes 19 seconds of the NCAA Mideast Regional final against Old Dominion, when they made 13 consecutive field goals and five consecutive free throws, when they were running fastbreaks and not having the ball touch the floor, when Chino’s Diana Taurasi was sinking 24-foot three-point shots and grinning, when Connecticut was leading, 34-14, and had recorded assists on 12 of their 13 baskets, there was a grim resignation on the faces of the Old Dominion players on the bench.

The game was over.

While top-seeded Connecticut (37-0) didn’t play to the same level in the second half, the Huskies moved to the Final Four with an 85-64 victory over No. 7-seeded Old Dominion on Monday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

It is the third Final Four in a row for the Huskies and their sixth trip overall. They will be aiming for a third national title (second in three years) and will play Tennessee on Friday in San Antonio.

Sue Bird, the national player of the year and Connecticut’s point guard, provided the Huskies’ first missed shot, a 15-footer. Since she had already scored nine points, her bobble was forgiven.

By halftime the Huskies led, 55-33, and though perfection-seeking Coach Geno Auriemma may not have forgiven his team’s second-half sloppiness, the enthusiastic crowd of 6,997 did. Bird, a senior, finished with a career-high 26 points and missed tying her career high of 12 assists by one. Taurasi, a sophomore, finished with 22 points, seven assists and five steals. “We felt awfully good,” Taurasi said.

The Lady Monarchs (28-6), who had come here disappointed in what they perceived was an inexplicably low seeding, and carrying confidence after upsetting No. 2-seeded Purdue at West Lafayette, Ind., in the second round, got within 14 points, at 72-58, in the second half. But that was as much a function of Connecticut’s natural letdown as it was of Old Dominion’s improvement.

Lucienne Berthieu, Old Dominion’s leading scorer, was limited to six points and four rebounds. And the Lady Monarchs left knowing they’d seen something special.

“University of Connecticut, in the first 20 minutes, played some of the best basketball I have ever witnessed,” Old Dominion Coach Wendy Larry said. “I’ve not seen a finer performance by a No. 1 team in the nation than what I saw in the first half.”