jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
DURHAM -- No. 1 Connecticut left no doubt that it is the best team in the land right now, dissecting No. 7 Duke in en route to an 81-48 victory on Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils have had success against No. 1, winning their past three matchups against top-ranked squads. But this season's Connecticut squad was like none of those.
The Huskies (18-0) extended their winning streak to 57, having beaten their opponents by an average of 39.3 points this season while holding them to an average of fewer than 45 points.
On those two points, the Blue Devils fared only marginally better.
Heading into the game, Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said she wanted her team to play with a high basketball IQ against the Huskies. And for the most part, the Blue Devils did that in the first half.
But in the second half, Connecticut pounced and was able to push its lead to 20 points quicker than it built a 10-point lead in the first half. The final 33-point margin ended up being the Huskies' largest of the game.
"Our IQ dropped in the second half," said McCallie, whose team had its 23-game winning streak at Cameron snapped. "The game tonight was all about ball control. We bugged out in the second half managing the ball, and boy did it show."
Duke was only the third team this season to be within 10 points at halftime against the Huskies. The second half started well for the Blue Devils, as Jasmine Thomas made a steal and layup to cut the Huskies' lead to 38-30.
But that was as close as Duke got the rest of the way. Connecticut recovered with a 14-4 run to rebuild its comfortable lead.
"You're never going to be perfect in a game," Thomas said. "It's all about playing off of each other and covering up for mistakes that you make. In the second half, we were just too slow to get to everything."
Duke was the fifth top-10 team Connecticut has beaten this season and the 11th straight overall. Of that group, only No. 2 Stanford was able to keep the score within 20 points, losing 80-68.
Connecticut is closing in on its record 70-game winning streak from 2001-03 and could match it in the Big East Tournament first round. The Huskies entered the game with a road win over No. 3 Notre Dame.
"You're going to be tested on what you're about when you're not at home," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "They're proving themselves over and over. It's pretty good to do what we did on Saturday and Monday."
All of the starters reached double figures for the Huskies, led by Maya Moore with 20, including 14 in the second half. Duke, meanwhile, only had Thomas in double figures with 17.
"The game felt great because they challenged us," Moore said. "We handled their press really well. It felt good to execute what we've practiced."
Duke committed 23 turnovers in the game, and the Blue Devils shot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the floor. Defensively, the Blue Devils were not able to force Connecticut into many miscues, as they only forced 14 turnovers including a season-low five steals.
The Huskies matched their season high with 13 3-pointers, the last coming with seven seconds left on a shot that turned into a four-point play when Lorin Dixon was fouled by Allison Vernerey on a deep baseline jumper. Connecticut made 52 percent from the arc (13 of 25).
