HARTFORD, Conn. (November 3, 2015) – Breanna Stewart was 10-of-12 from the field and her 25 points led all scorers and No.1 Connecticut to a 95-39 exhibition win over Lubbock Christian University in front of 6,233 fans Monday night at XL Center.
 
The 56-point margin of victory may come across as a lopsided win for the Huskies, but the record book reveals otherwise.  The deficit was UConn's smallest margin of victory in exhibition play since defeating Pace 85-35 on November 9, 2011. The Huskies were also held under 100 points for only the second time in exhibition play since 2012.
 
LCU opened the game's scoring with Tess Bruffey getting a bucket in the paint for a 2-0 lead. Kellyn Schneider blocked Kia Nurse's shot attempt in UConn's opening series and the Lady Chaps forced UConn into three consecutive turnovers, which led to a 3-2 LCU lead nearly four minutes into the opening quarter.  It was the first time UConn had trailed in an exhibition game since facing Holy Family on Nov. 7, 2012.
 
A media timeout in the opening quarter allowed Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma an opportunity to rally his troops and the Huskies responded with a 16-0 run. LCU's offense went dry in the opening half and they only made five field goals in the half. UConn led 43-16 at the half.
 
The Lady Chaps were optimistic they could fix their own mistakes in the second half to prevent UConn from getting on large runs, but it never panned out. UConn opened the second half on a 17-0 run and going 6-of-7 from the field. It led to UConn pulling away to the 56-point victory.
 
UConn played four of their five starters at least 27 minutes, which provided LCU the opportunity to face their top caliber individuals throughout most of the game. Nicole Hampton led LCU with 11 points and eight rebounds. The Lady Chaps matched UConn in blocks with five (Schneider and Hannah Harbin each had two). LCU was 10-of-12 (83.3%) from the free-throw line, but fouls were not in their favor as LCU was called for 18 fouls compared to 10 whistled against the Huskies.
 
Along with Stewart's 25 points, UConn received 18 from Nurse, 15 points from Moriah Jefferson and 16 points from Gabby Williams, which was part of a double-double (12 rebounds). The Huskies shot 51.4% (37/72) from the field.
 
The loss was LCU's first loss against a Division I opponent in program history (3-1). They previously had wins over Houston (exhibition), Texas Tech (exhibition) and Houston Baptist (regular season).
 
Despite the score, it was a great experience for the LCU family. Over 200 LCU fans were in attendance and an additional several hundred fans were inside the Rip Griffin Center on LCU's campus. Coach Auriemma was so impressed with the amount of LCU fans, he grabbed the public address microphone at the conclusion of the game and not only personally recognized them, but also provided them with some giveaway items in which he stated to the crowd that the prizes are normally for "their fans only."
 
HE SAID IT
"You never know what you are going to get when you play in an exhibition game," said Geno Aurriema. "They came a long way. They played the other night and scored a lot of points. They played with a disregard for who they were playing, they just played, and that was great. Their fans were great. That's a long way for them to travel and they did. It was way better than a lot of exhibitions games we've had."