Boston College Athletics
No. 9 Connecticut Outlasts Boston College, 60-46
November 17, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2005
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STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Charde Houston and Ann Strother scored 11 points apiece to lead No. 9 Connecticut to a 60-46 win over Boston College on Thursday night in the semifinals of the preseason Women's NIT.
The ninth-ranked Huskies (3-0) will play Oklahoma (3-0) for the title on Sunday. The Huskies are making their third appearance in the tournament and won the championship both previous times (1997, 2001).
The Eagles (2-1) played UConn close early but eventually wilted under the Huskies' smothering defense and speedy guard play.
Freshman guard Renee Montgomery finished with 10 points for UConn but it was her defense that fired up the crowd of 9,513. With just under 8 minutes to play, Montgomery had back-to-back steals off BC guard Sarah Marshall at midcourt and finished them both off with uncontested layups.
The second steal gave the Huskies a 53-37 lead that brought a deafening ovation and forced BC to call a timeout. The Eagles would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
The game was a matchup of former longtime Big East rivals. UConn has a 37-14 edge over the Eagles, the newest member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, but BC won two of the last three coming into the game.
Kathrin Ress and Kindyll Dorsey each scored 11 for BC. Brooke Queenan had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Houston and Barbara Turner led UConn with eight rebounds. Montgomery and Turner combined for six of UConn's 13 steals.
Both teams matched baskets for the first 14 minutes of the game. Montgomery's driving layup through the Eagles' bigger post players gave UConn the lead for good at 19-17 with 6:31 to play. The Huskies outscored BC 13-5 the rest of the way to take a 32-22 lead at the break.
