Boston College Athletics
Eagles Looking To Knock Off UConn
January 26, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2000
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) - It has been a long time since a Big East team has gone on the road and made Connecticut look mortal. Boston College might be the team to do it.
The top-ranked Huskies (17-0, 6-0), who play host to No. 19 Boston College (16-3, 5-0) on Wednesday at Gampel Pavilion, hold a 63-game home winning streak against conference opponents, dating back to a two-point loss to Georgetown nearly seven years ago.
Boston College, however, is the last Big East team to beat Connecticut. The Eagles topped the Huskies 78-66 last January in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
With injured starters Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Amy Duran and Shea Ralph watching from the sidelines, the Huskies went down quietly, only to avenge the loss two weeks later with a 107-77 rout at the Hartford Civic Center behind a career-high 36 points from Ralph.
Wednesday's game is the 38th meeting between these two programs, with Connecticut winning 20 of the last 22 games. Connecticut has not lost to Boston College at home since Jan. 2, 1988, but this year's crop of Eagles are riding a 12-game winning streak, including a 71-58 win at Providence on Saturday.
Boston College has been getting contributions from a number of players. Against Providence, Alissa Murphy scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half and Cal Bouchard scored 15 points. Jamie Cournoyer added 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots for the Eagles.
Connecticut, 7-0 against ranked teams this season and the only undefeated women's team in Division I, stayed perfect with a 79-46 thumping of host Villanova on Saturday.
"In 22 years I haven't seen a better team one through 10. They make a substitution and nothing changes," Villanova coach Harry Perretta said of the Huskies, who had 10 players score.
Connecticut led 38-18 at halftime, shooting 62 percent from the field to Villanova's 30 percent.
Ralph and Cash scored 13 points apiece, Svetlana Abrosimova scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half and Bird added 12 points for the Huskies.
"It's not easy to concentrate when you're down here," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said, referring to the fact that this year's Final Four will be held at the nearby First Union Center. "But I think our concentration level was very focused."
