Maya Moore 27 pts let's UConn Avoid Duke Upset

 In what we assumed would be simply a warmup game for Maya Moore's 2010 team, 19-seed Duke led 48-45 with 13:50 or 23 possessions left.

Monique Curry opened the game with consecutive 3-pointers and then had the first of eight blocked shots for the 2006 national runners-up Duke.

UConn finally took the lead on consecutive threes for a 51-48 lead, then Maya Moore scored a couple of times to make it a 12-0 run to make it 57-48 UConn.

But Duke kept it to 66-70 until 2:44 or 5 possessions to play. The play that finally put it away occurred then. Moore hit a 3-pointer while being fouled to make it 66-73. She missed the free throw but Kalana Greene grabbed the rebound and scored to make it 75-66.

Moore finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two steals in the 84-74 win.

The UConn 2010 team won a second straight national title to complete a 78-0 record, and appeared to be one of the top four seeds that would have easy opening wins because they consolidated so much talent. Tennessee 1998 did win in a blowout, and UConn 2016 and Louisiana Tech are expected to as well, but Duke made this one a lot closer than we expected.