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UConn women overwhelm Cornell in season opener, 100-35
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- UConn women overwhelm Cornell in season opener, 100-35
HARTFORD — A little over 3 minutes into the game, the UConn women already on one of their torrid rolls, Blanca Quinonez jumped up off the bench to check in. Along the baseline, Sarah Strong shot her a smile and clapped her hands.
"After watching her do her rehab and just not be able to play, I'm just happy she is back on the court," Strong said. "I enjoy playing with Blanca a lot, she's so tough. I just enjoy watching her score and do her thing."
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The PeoplesBank Arena crowd (10,409) responded Monday with a loud ovation, too. The Huskies' 100-35 victory over Cornell , an overmatched Ivy League opponent, was a warmup for far more difficult games to come, starting at Michigan Thursday, so getting important players back like Quinonez, the Big East's top freshman and sixth player last year, was a more important development than any stat. Quinonez contributed four points in her first few minutes on the floor, her first action since shoulder surgery following last season.
"She gives us a different look," Coach Geno Auriemma said. "A different dimension. Blanca and Sarah on the floor together, there's a lot of chemistry between the two of them."
The Huskies staged 21-0 runs in both the first and second quarters, and led 44-5 at one point. allowing coach Geno Auriemma to get a look at 12 different players, 11 of them scored, and several combinations. Rising above the rest, continuing the preseason trends, were freshman Jovana Popovic and Strong, both with 19 points. Strong, who played 21 minutes, also had eight steals, five rebounds and four assists. KK Arnold had 11 points, four assists and five steals.
"You go onto every season opener with the same level of 'Hey, I'm excited to see what we have … I'm anxious to see what it looks like,'" Auriemma said. "You hope that everybody performs pretty well and comes out of there feeling like you've got some work to do. At the same time, we did a bunch of good things. I thought we competed really hard, played with a lot of energy and a lot of players got in and got a chance, and everybody that played, played pretty well, so it was a good opener, I think."
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Freshman Marine Dursus from France, who missed the exhibition games with a foot injury, got her first action and hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, living up to her reputation as an elite perimeter shooter, though she was called for traveling a couple of times, typical for European players adjusting to the way the infraction is called by American referees.
"I just wanted to play," Dursus said. "I wanted to see what it is to play in this arena with the fans and everything. It's really great. So I'm happy for that."
UConn, briefly trailing 3-2, scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter. Strong (seven) and Popovic (six) led the surge, and Blanca Quinonez came off the bench for the first time and contributed four. Auriemma rotated 10 players in and out of the game during the first quarter, and whatever the combination, Cornell couldn't get a good look at the basket. Allie Ziebell's bucket gave the Huskies a 27-5 lead at the end of the quarter.
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The onslaught continued in the second quarter, as Dursus took the floor for the first time. UConn scored the first 17 points to balloon its lead to 44-5 before Cornell finally settled in and hit some baskets. The Huskies led 46-13 at the half, shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, 2 for 9 on threes. Strong had 12 points.
In the second half, UConn made 9 of 11 on threes, and finished the game shooting 55 percent from the floor, with 25 steals.
