STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Keena Mays, the American Conference’s leading scorer, got her 20 points against UConn.
Unfortunately for SMU (14-8, 5-6 American), no other Mustang had more than five in a 102-41 loss to the top-ranked Huskies.
“We talked about it and talked about it, but you get out on the court and we were like deer caught in headlights,” said SMU coach Rhonda Rompola. “You can talk about going out there and playing your game, you can talk about all that, but then you get out on the court and all of the sudden the ball goes up.”
Five Huskies scored in double figures. Bria Hartley scored 21 points and Breanna Stewart added 20 to lead the way for UConn (24-0, 11-0). Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out seven assists.
Stefanie Dolson had 16 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five of UConn’s 14 blocked shots. Moriah Jefferson had 14 points and five assists.
The Huskies had 31 assists on 40 baskets.
“Honestly, you can pass to anybody on this team and get an assist,” said Mosqueda-Lewis. “Our offense, when we’re moving and we’re flowing, we get great shots.”
The loss was the first in four games for SMU. The Mustangs missed their first 11 shots and were held without a point for more than 5 minutes before Kamy Cole hit a pair of free throws.
A Dolson layup put the Huskies up by 30 at 47-17, and a 3-pointer by Mosqueda-Lewis just before halftime gave the Huskies a 54-17 lead.
Mays was just 3 of 12 from the field in the half.
“There were times when they had two people on her and times when they made her try to give it up,” Rompola said. “The bottom line is, you have to have other players step up and relieve some of that, and I don’t feel like we had that.”
The Huskies opened up the second half with a 3-pointer from Mosqueda-Lewis and pushed the lead past 40 points when she hit a jumper with more than 16 minutes left in the game.
The lead was 84-32 after a 3-pointer by Hartley and a layup by Jefferson pushed it over 60 points with more than 5 minutes left.
UConn held SMU to 20 percent shooting. The Mustangs hit just 14 of their 70 shots.
UConn, which came in averaging more than 8 blocks a game, were just three shy of the school’s single-game record, led by Dolson, Stewart (four blocks) and Kiah Stokes (two).
The Huskies played with just seven scholarship players. Guard Brianna Banks missed the game after re-spraining her left ankle in practice on Monday. She missed a game against South Florida a week ago with a similar injury.
Hartley scored in double figures for the eighth straight game. She needs just 14 rebounds and five assists to join Diana Taurasi and Moore as the only players in team history with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.
This was final tune-up for the Huskies before Sunday’s showdown with No. 4 Louisville, which also won Tuesday and hasn’t lost since falling to Kentucky on Dec. 1.
Mays finished 8 of 24 from the floor. She has scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season.
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