Nov. 30, 1999

By DONNA TOMMELLEO
Associated Press Writer

STORRS, Conn. - No. 1 Connecticut misfired in the first half against a physical Illinois squad but came out hitting on all cylinders in the second half to coast to a 100-79 win and record its third straight 100-point game.

"Our evil twins came out tonight," said UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

The No. 14 Fighting Illini (5-2) dominated the offensive boards in the first half to slow down UConn's speedy transition game. The Huskies' top two scorers - Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova - were held to just one field goal in the first half.

But the model of consistency for UConn on Tuesday was sophomore forward Swin Cash, who led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds.

"I think I was due to have a pretty good game," Cash said. "The last couple of games the shots weren't falling for me. Today everything I pretty much put up was going in."

She had to wait for the rest of her teammates to catch up. UConn (5-0) shot 40 percent in the first and improved to 60 percent in the final period. Reserve guard Kennitra Johnson was 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the second half to help UConn pull away.

"We had good looks in the first half," Johnson said. "We wanted to keep taking them, and we knew we just had to stick with and they would eventually fall."

Cash scored 12 points in a hard-fought first half that saw five lead changes, as the Fighting Illini were able to run with up tempo Huskies.

"I thought my ball club played hard. Connecticut is very deep, which is a credit to their recruiting," Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said.

Both teams traded baskets for the first five minutes until Melissa Parker hit a jumper to give Illinois a 12-10 lead. The Illini led 23-19 after Tauja Catchings' layup.

The Huskies took advantage of early Illinois foul trouble hitting 11-of-12 from the line to keep them in the half. A steal by Ralph and her coast-to-coast layup put UConn up 25-23. The Huskies led 41-36 at the half.

UConn got its transition game going in the second half, going on a 16-4 run to open the half and led by 24 points. Six players scored in that opening run, capped by a Sue Bird 3-pointer.

"I'm comfortable with everybody having the ball in their hands anywhere on the court," Bird said. "We all have the ability to score, that's what happened tonight."

The Huskies outrebounded Illinois 51-29. Ralph had 15 and was 9-of-12 from the line.

Abrosimova, held to just two points, played with a broken nose. She broke her nose Sunday battling for a ball against Pepperdine and is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. She is not expected to miss any games.

Allison Curtin finished with 23 for Illinois. Kylie Martin had 21 before fouling out with 5:04 remaining.

"We had a chance," Curtin said. "I thought we played hard to the end."