Feb 20, 2002

Box Score

By DONNA TOMMELLEO
AP Sports Writer

STORRS, Conn. - No. 1 Connecticut clinched its ninth straight Big East regular-season title Wednesday night, beating Providence 106-41 behind 20 points and seven assists from Diana Taurasi.

The Huskies (28-0, 14-0 Big East) led from the opening tip, as their speed and inside game quickly overwhelmed the Friars (11-14, 5-9).

The victory also assured Connecticut of the top seed in next month's conference tournament at Rutgers.

Pregame festivities honored UConn's four seniors in the final regular-season home game at Gampel Pavilion. The class of Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams and Swin Cash were considered one of the best recruiting classes in the country when they arrived in Storrs during the fall of 1998.

They haven't disappointed. Four years and one national championship later, they have a record of 124-9. Each have scored more than 1,000 career points, the only UConn class to have four 1,000-point scorers.

Escorted by their parents, the seniors received flowers, a framed jersey and a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.

After that, they were all business in carving out another Big East rout.

UConn went on 14-0 run in the first five minutes, with Taurasi scoring eight points in a spurt that included five UConn steals.

Providence missed its first eight shots and finally got on the board at 14:30 on Keisha Blackwell's 3-pointer.

The Huskies shot 61 percent in the first half and closed it out with 54-20 lead, outscoring the Friars 24-8 in the post.

Coach Geno Auriemma went to his bench early with the big lead, but reinserted the seniors with less than 10 minutes left for a curtain call. They put together a 12-4 run in 31/2 minutes before leaving for good.

Bird finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and five steals. Cash scored 19 points, and Jones added 14.

The Huskies had a 50-24 advantage on the boards and made 18 steals.