Moore breaks scoring record

TRENTON, N.J. - Last year, Maya Moore exploded onto the women's college basketball scene. Within weeks, the buzz was all about her offensive presence.

With injuries to Kalana Greene and Mel Thomas, Moore was thrust into the spotlight, shouldering more than traditionally expected from most freshmen.

She took the responsibility in strides.

At 18 years old, Moore became a go-to player for a team looking to make its first Final Four appearance in four years.

"I'm going to go out, I'm going to try to score as many points as I can, get as many rebounds, and try not to be afraid to do that," Moore said.

In the process, she etched her place in the UConn record books, breaking the freshman scoring record. She made Big East history by setting the new freshman scoring record as well as becoming the first ever freshman - in both men's and women's basketball - to be named Big East Player of the Year.

And, she became only the second freshman to be named First Team All-American.

So when it came to her sophomore campaign, people expected more.

Somehow, she made that possible.

This time, though, Moore quietly pieced together another All-American campaign.

"It means a lot to me," Moore said. "I feel like I'm making improvement. Anytime you can increase your individual stat from one year to another, you feel like the work you've been putting in in the offseason and what coaches have been helping me to do is paying off."

On Tuesday night, she became UConn's new single-season high scorer with 712 points, passing Kara Wolters. The Huskies prevailed against the Sun Devils, 83-64, to advance to their second-straight Final Four.

Moore got the team on the board first, blowing past the Arizona State defenders for what looked like an easy layup rolling off her fingertips.

Later in the half, she found herself once again in the position of carrying the team, after Renee Montgomery got three quick fouls in 14 minutes.

"It's really important just to go out there and play hard and just to have all that weight on our shoulders, you know, we've been doing it all season long," said Tina Charles.

With 1:35 left in the first half, Moore hit a 3-pointer that gave the Huskies some breathing room.

It was the basket that put her ahead of Wolters.

"If Maya continues to hit 3's like that in transition, that is really difficult for post players to defend," said ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne.

"It's nice, I mean, it's one of those things where after the end of the season and when you look back, you'll be able to really think about it and get excited," Moore said. "But, it's not something that I was necessarily trying to break, but I know one of my goals is scoring."

Wolters said that being compared to Moore was like living in the "high-rent district." Moore, in response, said that a compliment from her was like one from an admired older sister and that she was honored to be compared with one of UConn's "trailblazers."

"It's a constant reminder of the greatness of the Connecticut program," Moore said. "Her name is up on one of the banners up in the gym. And you can watch old film or just hear about some of these stories of what great teams went through and it's kind of, it's a big family."

With the team needing her to bring her all-around game the most, Moore came alive, shooting 5-8 from the 3-point line.

She ended the night with 25 points and nine rebounds and joined her teammates dancing on the sidelines.

"It's probably going to be more important to other people than to myself," Moore said. "At the pro level, numbers are a lot more critical for individual players, but I really do believe that, in a team sport, if you don't have a good team... Like, you know, like Lebron [James] or Kobe [Bryant], if they didn't go into the postseason, if they didn't bring their team into the postseason, they wouldn't be as good as they are. That's just how it works."

In addition, Moore received her second First Team All-American selection, alongside Montgomery, something head coach Geno Auriemma said brings back the definition of an All-American. Earlier this season, she became the first player in the Big East to win Player of the Year honors in the first two collegiate seasons.

She was also named the Most Outstanding Player for the Trenton Regional.

Yet, there is one thing left unaccomplished.

"I look at it more that I'm just happy that I have the chance to break records like that because a lot of people, you know, you get hurt or you don't have the opportunity," she said. "I'm glad I got the opportunity to compete, but I will be much more happy and appreciative if we could end our season with a National Championship."