Jan. 27, 2007
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STORRS, Conn. (AP) -Freshman Tina Charles had 12 points and tied a school-record with nine blocks to help No. 7 Connecticut run its Big East conference record to 8-0 Saturday with a 64-47 win over Notre Dame.
Charles also had 10 rebounds and came within one block of recording only the second triple-double in UConn history.
Kalana Greene added 10 points and seven rebounds for Connecticut (18-2), which has won 196 consecutive games against unranked opponents at home.
Erica Williamson had 12 points to lead Notre Dame (13-7, 4-3 Big East) and Crystal Erwin added 11.
The Huskies jumped to an early 8-4 lead, in what was a sloppy game, as Renee Montgomery hit her first three shots.
Notre Dame shot just 24 percent from the floor, and hit just one of its first 11 attempts from the field. But the Irish were able to stay in the game thanks to 15 first-half turnovers by Connecticut, eight in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The two teams combined for 45 giveaways – 27 turnovers for Connecticut and 18 for Notre Dame.
UConn led just 29-23 at the half, and got its first double-digit lead, 35-25, three minutes into the second half on a spin move and bucket by Charde Houston.
The Huskies stretched that to 18 after Erwin was called for an intentional foul. Houston hit one foul shot, and Charles hit a turnaround on the ensuing possession to put UConn up 54-36.
The Huskies have won their last three games against the Irish.
The Huskies’ Laura Lishness got the team’s only triple double back in March, 1989, against Providence.
Notre Dame was playing its second consecutive game against a ranked opponent. The Irish lost to No. 17 Marquette on Tuesday, 71-62, and play at Pittsburgh on Jan. 31.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: The Irish lose back-to-back games for the first time all season and drop to 1-3 vs. ranked opponents this year … Notre Dame was held to a season-low (and series-low) 47 points, two fewer than its total at Penn State on Nov. 16 … it also was just the fourth time all year Connecticut was held to 65 points or less (the Huskies came into the game averaging better than 80 ppg) … after not holding UConn below 70 points in any of its first 17 games, Notre Dame has limited the Huskies to less than 70 points five times in the past seven meetings … the Irish shot a season-low 24.2 percent from the field, erasing their old mark of .268 at Penn State … Notre Dame caused 20+ turnovers for the 15th time in 20 games this season, with Connecticut’s 27 turnovers tying for the third-most by an Irish opponent in 2006-07 (Michigan had 30 on Dec. 1, Prairie View A&M had 28 on Dec. 28 and USC had 27 on Nov. 24) … UConn’s 27 giveaways were a season-high for the Huskies, one more than they had at second-ranked North Carolina on Jan. 15 … Connecticut set a Notre Dame opponent record with 16 blocked shots, topping the old mark of 13 swats by Bradley on Feb. 18, 1983 in Peoria, Ill. (a 68-57 ND win) … UConn’s Tina Charles set an Irish individual opponent record with nine blocks, one more than Syracuse’s Vaida Sipaviciute on Jan. 19, 2005 (a 74-61 ND win in central New York) … Charel Allen had her nine-game double-digit scoring streak snapped and was held to single figures for only the third time all year … at the same time, Erica Williamson posted her fourth double-digit scoring night of the season, while Crystal Erwin logged her third double-figure point total and set a new career high with three three-point field goals (previous best: two vs. Richmond on Nov. 28, the last double-digit game she had before UConn).