No. 1 UConn survives test from Tigers

• By MATTHEW CONYERS
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Jan 4, 2009 - UPDATED: 1:26 p.m.

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HARTFORD, Conn. — In the first 12 minutes of Saturday’s game against top-ranked Connecticut, LSU had achieved something few Huskies foes accomplish.

The Lady Tigers had the lead.

Anchored by a 12-point first half from Allison Hightower, LSU took Connecticut out of its flow and held a four-point lead — tied for the biggest any team has had on Connecticut. And not just for a few possessions; the Lady Tigers were giving the Huskies one of their first true tests of the season.

The advantage was short- lived.

Led by a late first-half surge from All-American Maya Moore, the Huskies went on to defeat LSU 76-63 Saturday for their 31st-straight, regular-season home victory and second in a row against LSU in front of 13,922 at the XL Center in Hartford. The opening half saw Moore score 15 points and grab seven rebounds.

“This is the best team in the country by far, there is no question about that,” LSU coach Van Chancellor said. “There is nobody in second place and we went tooth and nail with them today and that’s what we wanted, to be the best we can, to be good as LSU can be.”

Moore finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. In the second half Renee Montgomery spurred the charge with 15 of her 21 points. She finished with four 3-pointers and six assists.

“Montgomery just broke our back with those 3-balls,” Chancellor said. “There aren’t that many women who can go behind the screen and drill the three-ball like she did.”

The game was the first one outside of Louisiana for LSU this season.

Hightower led the Lady Tigers (6-5) with 14 points and three assists. Lasondra Barrett had 13 points and Ayana Dunning had 12 points and nine rebounds.

“I am really proud of our team today,” Van Chancellor said. “We have a young team. We ended the game with four freshmen. We had players playing out of position. Our two lead scorers fouled out. We found a way to hang in.”

LSU has lost two of its last three games after putting together a four-game win streak in December.

After starting the second half down 41-33, the Lady Tigers trimmed the lead to 45-43 with 14:11 remaining. But Connecticut had another answer from a familiar source. Montgomery started an 18-3 run with a 3-pointer with 14:01 left.