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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 3, 2009

UConn women finish regular season 30-0

Associated Press

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Unbeaten and still unimpressed. Only at Connecticut.

Even after beating Rutgers for their first undefeated regular season in six years, the top-ranked Huskies were all business and thinking about the next step: the Big East tournament.

"Being 30-0 is fantastic if you're able to finish it off down the road," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "For better or worse, I've created an environment no matter how great we are or how wonderful we are that the real story is if we don't win the national championship."

Renee Montgomery scored 23 points and top-ranked Connecticut beat Rutgers, 69-59, last night to finish off the fifth undefeated regular season in program history.

UConn (30-0, 16-0 Big East) last went unbeaten in the regular season in 2002-03. The Huskies finished that year with their second straight national championship after losing to Villanova in the Big East tournament. Last night's win also marked the seventh time UConn has run through the conference unbeaten.

Rutgers fell to 18-11, 9-7.

No. 7 Louisville 66, Marquette 61: Angel McCoughtry scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead visiting Louisville (27-3, 14-2 Big East) past Marquette (16-14, 7-9). Janae Howard tied her career high with 13 points as the Cardinals tied a school record with their 27th win.

No. 14 Pittsburgh 79, St. John's 60: Shavonte Zellous scored 18 points in her final home game and host Pittsburgh (22-6, 12-4 in Big East) beat St. John's (16-13, 4-12). The Panthers opened up a 13-point lead at halftime and had few problems in tying the school record for regular-season victories.

No. 17 South Dakota St. 71, Oral Roberts 64: Jill Young came off the bench to score 23 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5:12 left, to lift visiting South Dakota State (28-2, 17-1) past Oral Roberts (13-16, 6-12) for its 14th straight win and second consecutive Summit League title.

No. 20 Notre Dame 72, West Virginia 66: Lindsay Schrader had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and host Notre Dame (21-7, 10-6 Big East) defeated West Virginia (16-13, 5-11). The Irish used a 9-2 run midway through the first half to open a 25-15 lead.

MEN'S TOP 25

No. 11 Villanova 77, Notre Dame 60: Scottie Reynolds scored 23 points, Dante Cunningham added 18 and eight rebounds, and visiting Villanova (24-6, 12-5 Big East) turned the ball over a season-low five times to beat Notre Dame (16-13, 7-10). The Wildcats took control with runs of 10-2 and 16-1 in the second half.

WAC MEN

Boise State 104, New Mexico State 92: Boise State (18-10, 8-6) took the upper hand on third place in the WAC with a victory over New Mexico State (15-14, 8-7). Boise State swept the Aggies and leapfrogged them into third a week before the WAC Tournament. Jamar Green had a career-high 19 points as one of six Boise State players in double figures.

HAWAI'I DIVISION II

Hawai'i-Hilo 98, Chaminade 82: John Smith scored 25 points and four other Vulcans scored in double-figures in a victory over the Silverswords in a Pacific West Conference game at McCabe gym. Jay DeMaestri added 18 points, Jacob Briggs had 17, Perry Baggett 13 and Charlando Brown 11 for Hilo (14-11, 6-5). Mohamed Tangara had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and Cartier Carter added 16 points for Chaminade (14-12, 7-5). In the women's game, UH-Hilo defeated Chaminade, 68-61.