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Connecticut passes test, beats Purdue

Purdue's Fahkara Malone and UConn's Charde Houston vie for a loose ball. UConn won 66-55. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Purdue's Fahkara Malone and UConn's Charde Houston vie for a loose ball. UConn won 66-55. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Connecticut faced its first test of the season and passed.

Renee Montgomery matched her career high with 26 points and No. 7 Connecticut beat ninth-ranked Purdue 66-55 on Thursday night at Storrs, Conn.

“We knew Purdue was going to be a tough team and we were going to have to play every possession,” said Connecticut guard Ketia Swanier. “They’re a top-10 team in the nation so of course it’s a lot different from the teams we played earlier this season.”

Montgomery had 16 points in the first half to help UConn build a 15-point halftime lead. With the game tied at 18, UConn (4-0) went on a 17-2 run to close the half. Montgomery had 10 points during the spurt, drawing the crowd to its feet with an acrobatic three-point play off a Mel Thomas steal.

“She keyed the run,” Montgomery said of Thomas. “She had a couple of key steals that got us some easy fast-break points and then from there, everyone kept it going and kept playing hard and with a lot of emotion.”

Montgomery capped the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws.

“That last 11 minutes was UConn basketball,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “We made some really great plays.”

Purdue (6-1), which was averaging 73.7 points coming into the game, scored the first five points of the second half to close within 10, but Montgomery answered with a 3-pointer.

The Huskies extended the lead back up to 50-35 midway through the second half on Charde Houston’s layup before Purdue started to chip away.

The Boilermakers used a 13-3 run to close within 53-48 on Erin Lawless’ 3-pointer with 6:10 left, but they could get no closer. The Huskies scored the next five points on a layup by Houston and a 3-pointer by Mel Thomas.

Lawless scored 20 points to lead the Boilermakers, who struggled from the field, shooting 34 percent. Jodi Howell added 11 points and Lindsay Wisdom-Hyalton had 10 points.

Leading scorer Katie Gearlds, who was averaging 20.0 points, had a miserable shooting night. She was 2 for 18, including 0 for 9 from behind the arc. Despite getting good looks at the basket, she couldn’t get her shots to drop.

“Basketball is a very humbling game,” Gearlds said. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. I thought I had great looks, great great looks.”

(2) North Carolina 103, UNC Greensboro 48: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Camille Little scored 16 points and the Tar Heels (7-0) got all the scoring they needed in the first half in a rout of the Spartans (4-2).

(6) Ohio St. 68, Longwood 33: At Columbus, Ohio, Marscilla Packer and Brandie Hoskins scored 15 points apiece to lead the Buckeyes (6-0) to a rout of the Lancers (4-4).

(12) Vanderbilt 85, UAB 63: At Birmingham, Ala., Carla Thomas had 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Commodores (7-0) to a victory over the Blazers (0-6).

(13) Baylor 64, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 62: At Waco, Texas, Bernice Mosby nailed a short jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift the Lady Bears (7-1) to a win over the Islanders (1-5).

(19) Louisville 63, Xavier 59: At Cincinnati, Angel McCoughtry had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help the Cardinals (7-0) beat the Musketeers (5-2).

(22) Texas 71, Southern 23: At Austin, Texas, Aubrey Cook scored 15 points and the Longhorns (6-1) allowed a school-record low seven points in the first half of a victory over the Jaguars (0-5).