STORRS, Conn. — While Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes waited, they danced. Up by 35 points less than five minutes into the second half, Connecticut and head coach Geno Auriemma didn’t need the timeout.

He spoke a few quick words to his players and sent them back to the court.

‘We got pretty good games from just about everybody,’ Auriemma said. ‘It’s what makes nights like this special, when you can play like that and enjoy it.’

So with Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman scribbling feverishly on his dry erase board, Moore and Hayes enjoyed Willow Smith’s ‘Whip My Hair’ to the delight of the crowd. They could relax for a few seconds, especially since their offense had already sealed a win.

Moore and Hayes burned Syracuse (21-8, 9-7 Big East) for the second consecutive season Monday in an 82-47 win over the Orange. The pair combined for 41 points on the night after outscoring SU by themselves in the first half. They propelled the No. 1 Huskies (29-1, 16-0 Big East) to a 29-point halftime lead, from which the team never looked back. UConn took home the Big East regular-season title in front of 10,167 at Gampel Pavilion.

Connecticut’s two leading scorers both started out quickly in the regular-season finale and catalyzed an offense that shot 61 percent from the field in the first half. They combined for 10 of the team’s first 14 points, something Auriemma said brought the rest of the Huskies into the game.

‘When Maya and Tiffany get off, and running like they were today, it makes everybody feel good,’ he said. ‘It makes everybody comfortable and makes everybody calm down and gives them a lot of confidence.’

What Moore and Hayes were able to do was shred Hillsman’s 2-3 zone in two different ways.

Moore scored the bulk of her 23 points inside of 15 feet. She beat the zone with midrange jump shots from nearly every possible location. The baseline. The left elbow. The right elbow.

She lurked along the end line, almost hiding behind the Syracuse zone. But within an instant, she would flash out toward the top of the key, catch, turn and bury a jumper. It didn’t matter if Syracuse was contesting her or not. She hit 11-of-13 field goals on the night.

‘He has the best player,’ Hillsman said of Auriemma. ‘When you look at good basketball teams, they all have that one player that can go get their own shot. And she’s going to get her own shot against any defense.’

Meanwhile, Hayes thrived as a result of the attention SU paid to Moore. She poured in 18 points via a 4-of-7 performance from 3-point range.

In the game’s opening minutes — when the bulk of Syracuse’s focus was on Moore — she hit a pair of 3-pointers to give UConn an early 8-2 lead. Then midway through the second half, she hit two more on consecutive possessions.

‘I think we do a good job of surrounding our best players year after year after year with people that understand what their responsibility is around those best players,’ Auriemma said. ‘And it all kind of works.’

For Auriemma, that duo worked against the Orange for the second straight season. In last year’s 87-66 win over the Orange at the Carrier Dome, Moore and Hayes combined for 60 points.

Hillsman even admitted that in Moore’s four-year career, he hasn’t done anything to challenge the National Player of the Year frontrunner, let alone stop her. In four career games against Hillsman and Syracuse, Moore has averaged 26.8 points per game and shot 58 percent from the field.

‘Man, we haven’t challenged her once, man,’ Hillsman said. ‘She’s killed us. It’s not been a challenge. I was just trying to not let her get 250 points on us in four years. She’s had some monster games against us.’

So it seems only fitting that Moore and Hayes were the ones to make the play that caused Hillsman to take that timeout.

Hayes had just split a Syracuse double team by Phylesha Bullard and Erica Morrow when she spotted Moore on the opposite wing. She fired a pass to her right, and Moore buried a 3. After that, she danced.

‘I’m really happy with the way we played,’ Moore said. ‘We played outstanding.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

 

Published on February 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13