Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Bria Hartley spark No. 3 UConn's rout

STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut guard Bria Hartley hopes she's

finally rounding into form.

The junior guard, who missed much of the preseason and the first

two games of the year with an ankle injury, had 20 points Tuesday

night, to help the third-ranked Huskies to a 94-37 rout of

Marquette.

"It has felt like I was a step behind, being out for that long

and then coming back and not being able to play the way I wanted to -- not improving, not getting better at certain things," Hartley

said. "The only thing you can do is just work hard, keep pushing

yourself. I tell myself; eventually it's going to get better."

Hartley was 0 for 7 from 3-point range Saturday in a

six-point win over St. John's. She hit 5-of-7 against the Golden

Eagles, tying a career high.

She came in averaging just over 8 points a game after putting up

14 a game last season.

"She played hard," said Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who led the

Huskies with 24 points. "She was the Bria Hartley I remember. We

need Bria Hartley to play like the old her. We need her to score in

double digits every night. We need her to be aggressive on defense

and make sure she's penetrating and making things happen for our

team."

Mosqueda-Lewis also made some things happen, hitting her first

eight shots and her first five 3-point attempts.

Six Huskies scored in double figures, including all five

starters. Caroline Doty added 12 points, making all four of her

3-pointers for the Huskies (21-1, 8-1 Big East), who were coming

off a lackluster six-point win at St. John's.

Brookly Pumroy had 11 points to lead Marquette (11-11, 3-6),

which has never beaten UConn in nine attempts.

Marquette opened the game with a 3-point basket from Chelsie

Butler, but that was the only lead the Golden Eagles would enjoy.

UConn responded with a 19-0 run, capped by Doty's third

3-pointer of the game. A pair of free throws from Kelly Faris gave

the Huskies their first 30-point lead at 38-8 midway through the

first half and the rout was on.

Coach Geno Auriemma had criticized Mosqueda-Lewis recently for

not looking for her shot as much as she should. She responded by

hitting all seven of her attempts in the first half Tuesday,

including five from behind the arc. Mosqueda-Lewis now leads the

nation with 67 3-pointers. She came into the game ranked second in

accuracy from behind the arc hitting just under 50 percent of her

attempts.

"I never want her out of the game, ever," Auriemma said.

"Tonight she didn't commit one foul. I want it to be like that all

year. I don't want her to even think about fouling anybody. Because

I know that in a three-minute stretch, she's going to blow the game

open. That's how much confidence we have in her."

Marquette, meanwhile, made just six baskets as a team in the

first half, shooting 20 percent from the floor. They went into the

locker room trailing 62-17 at halftime.

UConn did not let up much in the second half, leading by as many

as 58 points. The Huskies were 15 of 23 from 3-point range and shot

55 percent from the floor.

"They jumped all over us," said Marquette coach Terri

Mitchell. "Tonight was brutal and we just have to find a way to

move on."

Stefanie Dolson returned to the UConn lineup after missing the

St. John's game with a stomach bug and chipped in with 15 points.

With the junior center on the bench, the Red Storm matched the

Huskies, scoring 26 points in the paint. UConn had 30 inside points

Tuesday, to just 14 for Marquette.

"It was something that I don't want to go through again, cause

it was really weird," Dolson said of sitting out a game. "It felt

good to be out there and playing with the team, and playing the way

we did."

Katherine Plouffe, Marquette's leading scorer, was held to just

four points. She didn't score in the teams' first meeting this

season, an 85-51 UConn win on Jan. 12.

The game was the first in a three-game road trip for Marquette,

which heads to Villanova and Cincinnati before going home to host

No. 2 Notre Dame on Feb. 17.

UConn played without backup point guard Brianna Banks, who will

miss the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate

ligament in her right leg.

Banks suffered the injury during the first half of the Huskies'

71-65 victory over St. John's on Saturday. The school released the

diagnosis on Monday and said surgery would be scheduled in the

coming weeks. The sophomore from Newnan, Ga. had been averaging 7.3

points and 1.7 assists in just over 17 minutes per game. She was

shooting 47.9 percent from the field.