St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
8-11, 2-6
Connecticut*
16-2, 7-1
Women's Basketball Falls At No. 4 Connecticut, 82-49
1/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By DONNA TOMMELLEO
AP Sports Writer
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Ann Strother scored a career-high 27 points and added 10 rebounds to help No. 4 Connecticut overcome the loss of Taurasi and beat St. John's 82-49 on Saturday.
Taurasi had just two points when she injured her back after blocking a shot with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
With the All-American out, Strother and her teammates came through. Strother hit seven 3-pointers and reserve center Liz Sherwood finished with career-high 10 boards for the Huskies (16-2, 7-1 Big East).
"When D is in the game we do look for her," Strother said. "Today, everybody was looking to score. As a team, we're coming together, we're getting our confidence."
Taurasi left the game with soreness in her back, but coach Geno Auriemma said he held her out as a precaution.
"I'm feeling all right, a little minor injury," Taurasi said as she jogged off the floor after the game. "We're good."
Kim MacMillan and Danielle Chambers each scored 11 points for the Red Storm (8-11, 2-6), who have lost 20 straight to UConn.
Strother opened the game with two straight 3-pointers, but the Red Storm kept it close for the first 10 minutes and, at one point, led by as many as four.
"What we tried to do was to stop Taurasi by playing someone on her and having everyone else in a diamond," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "I think we caught UConn off-guard for the first couple of minutes."
Everyone but Strother.
"I really felt like I was wide open most of the time and I didn't have to work to get most of my shots," Strother said.
Strother converted a three-point play to give UConn a 26-25 lead, and the Huskies never trailed again. UConn outscored St. John's 23-12 down the stretch to take a 44-35 halftime lead.
"We've been waiting a long time for a game like that from Ann," Auriemma said.
Sherwood, a 6-foot-4 freshman, proved to be a tough matchup for St. John's. She scored nine points and had eight boards in 10 minutes in the first half. Sherwood entered the game with just six offensive boards all season, and had five by halftime. She and Strother were high school teammates in Castle Rock, Colo.
"That's the kind of stuff (Sherwood) can do and we need that every single day from her," Strother said.
UConn outscored St. John's 30-16 in the paint. Sherwood had three of UConn's 10 blocks.
Reserve guard Ashley Battle had eight rebounds and 15 points for UConn.
Shemika Stevens added 10 for the Red Storm.
Next up for UConn is the annual matchup with No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville on Thursday. Auriemma was disappointed with his squad's slow start against the Red Storm and met with the team for an hour in the locker room after the game.
Battle said the Tennessee game will help refocus the team.
"We're on an emotional roller coaster right now," Battle said. "It really doesn't matter who we're playing on Thursday. We know what we need to do, but I don't know why it's taking such an effort to let it come out and let it shine."
