U.S. stops UConn in exhibition
U.S. NATIONAL TEAM 79, NO. 4 CONNECTICUT 64
HARTFORD, Conn. — Breanna Stewart returned to the court nine months after rupturing her right Achilles tendon, and the U.S. women’s national team beat No. 4 UConn 79-64 on Monday night in an exhibition game.
The teams honored NBA star Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday.
The two had become friends with Coach Geno Auriemma and many of the former UConn players, including Stewart, who said Bryant was one of the first people to reach out to her when she got hurt in Europe in April.
Stewart, who scored three points in 17 minutes, honored the pair along with other victims of the crash by writing their names on her shoes.
The game started with Stewart hitting her first shot — a three-pointer from the wing. It was her only basket of the game. The U.S., which lost an exhibition game to Oregon on Nov. 9, scored the first seven points and led 2211 after one.
UConn rallied in the second quarter, and the game was tied at 31-31 at the half. The Huskies led 51-47 before the U.S. team scored the final five points of the third quarter.
The Huskies led 56-54 early in the fourth quarter before Kelsey Plum scored eight consecutive points in a 10-0 run for the U.S. to give the Americans a cushion.
Stewart was one of five former Huskies on the U.S. rosters. She was joined by Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Katie Lou Samuelson and Diana Taurasi. The Phoenix Mercury star didn’t play because of back soreness.
The five received loud ovations from the fans when they were introduced pregame.
The Huskies celebrated the 2009 and 2010 teams that won national championships. The two teams were a combined 78-0 led by Maya Moore, who is sitting out her second consecutive WNBA season.
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 13 KENTUCKY 68, AUBURN 61
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rhyne Howard hit three clutch free throws, collected a steal and blocked a shot in the final 29 seconds as the No. 13 Kentucky women held off Auburn.
Auburn, coming into the game after winning its first SEC game of the season, a 59-43 victory over Mississippi, rallied after falling behind by as many as 20 points in the first half and faced a 44-28 deficit at halftime. The Tigers outscored Kentucky 19-7 in the third quarter and tied the game at 51-51 on two free throws by Unique Thompson with 8:40 remaining.
Kentucky (16-3, 5-2) got three-pointers from Amanda Paschal and KeKe McKinney along with a McKinney layup in an 8-2 run to retake control, but Auburn rallied behind a Robyn Benton three-pointer and a Daisa Alexander layup and trailed by one, 59-58 with under four minutes to play.
Thompson hit the second of two free throws with :54 left to get Auburn within 63-61, but the Tigers could not score again. Howard hit two free throws, then split a pair from the line after drawing a foul following a steal to make it 66-61 with :20 left. She also blocked Alexander’s layup attempt with :13 left.
Sabrina Haines hit 4 of 8 three-pointers and scored 17 points to lead Kentucky, with McKinney adding 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench and Howard contributing 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Thompson, a preseason All-SEC second team selection, put up 27 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for Auburn (7-11, 1-6).
NO. 20 INDIANA 62, MINNESOTA 52
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Grace Berger scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of13 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds and the No. 20 Indiana women beat Minnesota.
Jaelynn Penn added 15 points and Ali Patberg had 11 with 6 rebounds and 3 assists for the Hoosiers (16-5, 6-3 Big Ten), who trailed 14-11 after the first quarter but pulled ahead for good on a 12-2 run in which Berger scored eight points to lead 27-23 at halftime.
The Hoosiers made 20 of 24 free throws (83%), including 15 of 18 in the fourth quarter that helped them to their largest lead of the night, 60-47, with 1:55 to play. Berger was 5 of 6 from the foul line while Penn and Aleksa Gulbe were each 4 for 4.
Indiana shot 11% from three-point range (1 of 9) to Minnesota’s 26% (5 of 19).
Jasmine Powell hit 2 of 6 three-pointers and scored 15 points, and Taiye Bello had 11 points with 13 rebounds for the Golden Gophers (12-8, 2-7), who were outrebounded 40-33. Jasmine Brunson scored 11 points and Sara Scalia added 9.