PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It was a night full of surprises for the No. 1 women's basketball team, including the biggest shock of all - a 73-71 loss to No. 7 Rutgers, snapping the team's winning streak and preventing a perfect record.
For whatever reason, UConn could not control the pressure from the Rutgers offense and the Huskies looked defeated in the second half after going ahead by nine in the first. It was Mardi Gras and people all over the country were celebrating, but at the end of the game, the UConn locker room was not.
The team that came on the court in the second half was not the one that fans had seen so many times before. Renee Montgomery had 24 points, Tina Charles had 16 and Maya Moore had 15, all of which came in the second half. The rest of the team, which for so long had relied on depth to get through the tough times, combined for 16 points.
"There is nothing but total respect and admiration for Connecticut," said Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer. "They're legendary. They're not just anybody."
On that unseasonably warm night in central New Jersey, everything changed and for the first time this season the Huskies came up short.
"I think that either way, we can feel sorry for ourselves and get another loss or we can just grow from it and keep going," Montgomery said. "It's not going to change really."
Brittany Hunter made the start for the Huskies, but has missed a significant amount of time over the past six games and scored three points. Charde Houston went on a small run in the first half, but otherwise did not make an impact.
"There's just times in our offense recently when we're not getting a lot out of our offense," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
The freshmen, however, may have had an opportunity to prove themselves to the Scarlet Knight crowd, but in two completely different ways.
Lorin Dixon did not have any points in UConn's loss to Rutgers, but her sheer hustle and determination did help her get 22 minutes of playing time. Moore hit three 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the game to get her team within striking distance.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, it was not enough.
At first, it seemed that nerves may have gotten the best of Dixon, playing against Rutgers for the first time in her collegiate career, no less on the road. It also appeared that way for Moore, who missed all of her shots in the first half.
Yet, Stringer was still impressed.
"That speaks to Maya Moore," she said, glancing over the stat sheet. "That's incredible. We were all over her."
Dixon and Moore stepped onto a court in front of an at best hostile crowd, red shirts swarming around the RAC. The cheers coming from the stands were not for great plays, but for mental mistakes in the opening minutes, including a traveling call and a turnover by Dixon and missed shots by Moore.
On paper, Dixon's night was far from stellar, going 0-for-4 in field goals with two personal fouls and an assist. Yet she earned her way into the last minutes of the game against the Scarlet Knights when it mattered most, a possible indication of Auriemma's growing faith in his freshman.
The two still have a long way to go, but the season is not over for the Huskies, who still have a month before the Big East tournament. The major difference is that instead of a perfect season heading into the next game, they now have lost one game of 22.
"This is not an ordinary UConn team," Stringer said. "They're exceptional in everything they do."
Brittany Perotti can be contacted at Brittany.Perotti@UConn.edu.
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