UConn defeats Texas A&M 81-50

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- There was no room for Stefanie Dolson to fully operate inside last season for the UConn women's basketball team. Without another formidable inside presence, opponents utilized double teams and gimmick defenses in an effort to neutralize her.

The addition of freshmen post players Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck and the continued perimeter success of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis this season have, in turn, opened up the floor for Dolson.

And she has capitalized.

Dolson scored 20 of her career-high 24 points to power the second-ranked Huskies to an 81-50 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M before 7,657 at Reed Arena. She finished 11-of-15 from the field and added six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 29 minutes.

"It's extremely different,'' Dolson said. "With the other posts and all the guards, the last couple games they've obviously showed they can shoot the ball. So I think teams are going to kind of make sure they take away the jump shots, which definitely spreads the floor so much that it kind of opens up the paint.''

UConn Class of 2014 recruiting targets Recee Caldwell and Briana Turner were among those in attendance.

Junior All-American Bria Hartley missed her second straight game due to a sprained left ankle. She is listed as questionable for Thursday's game against Wake Forest at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With the win over the Aggies and Baylor's 71-69 loss to No. 4 Stanford Friday, the Huskies (2-0) are expected to ascend to No. 1 in the national polls this week for the first time since the final week of the 2010-11 season.

"I doesn't really matter what ranking you are,'' Dolson said. "You're going to go out and play the way you're going to play. And with our team you don't focus on those things, you just kind of go out and play Connecticut basketball and whatever ranking you are you are.''

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for UConn. Breanna Stewart had 11 points and six rebounds. Kelly Faris added 10 points and a game-high six assists.

The Huskies shot 56.1 percent from the field, including 63.6 percent in the second half, and collected 27 assists on 32 made field goals. They also scored 42 points in the paint as Dolson thoroughly outplayed Texas A&M center Kelsey Bone.

"We really made a concerted effort to get the ball in the lane,'' UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And with Stefanie's footwork and her mobility and where she is right now mentally, if we throw it to her something good's going to happen. We're either going to get a bucket, she's going to get fouled, she's going to get an assists. But something good's going to happen. And we just thought if we keep doing that it's going to put their big guys under a lot of pressure.''

Bone entered the game averaging 15.0 points and 13.5 rebounds. She totaled eight points (3-of-7 FG) and three rebounds against the Huskies.

"Dolson just put on a clinic against our post players,'' Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. "There are no excuses. I've been praising my post players, but tonight it was all Connecticut . It was not a good day for the head coach and our post players.''

The Aggies, who shot just 30.0 percent from the field, remain winless after facing UConn, No. 8 Louisville and No. 9 Penn State to open the season.

Freshman Courtney Walker paced Texas A&M with 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Huskies set the tone right away as they pounded the ball inside en route to a 16-6 lead. Dolson had seven points in the first 5:15. UConn scored 12 of its first 16 points in the paint.

The Huskies led by as many as 13 points in the half. The lead was 40-28 at halftime.

UConn used an 18-1 run in a span of 6:32 early in the second half to put the game away. Faris made two 3-pointers. Mosqueda-Lewis had five points. And Stewart added a 3-pointer to stake the Huskies to a 58-31 lead.

Texas A&M opened the second half by missing 11 of its first 12 shots from the field.

"In the first half, Stefanie carried us,'' Auriemma said. "She was unbelievable. She was just great. In the second half everybody else got involved and it's just a lot when points are coming from a lot of different spots on the floor were a hard team to play against.''

relliott@ctpost.com; http://twitter.com/elliottctpost; http://blog.ctnews.com/elliott/

Source: http://www.newstimes.com/uconn/article/UConn-defeats-Texas-A-M-81-50-4048319.php

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