Moore scores 40, including 1,000th point; Doty injures knee

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Maya Moore missed a shot during Connecticut's shootaround Saturday and yelled at the basketball.

The ball must have listened.

Moore went out and scored a career-high 40 points to reach 1,000 faster than any female player in Connecticut history, leading the top-ranked Huskies in a 107-53 rout over Syracuse on Saturday.

"That's what great shooters do," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's never their fault. It's never a miss. Something's wrong with the damn ball. That's a unique individual right there."

UConn tied a Big East record with 18 3-pointers, including a team-record 10 from Moore.

Moore is the second player in UConn history to score 40 or more points in a game, behind Nykesha Sales' 46-point effort against Stanford in December 1997.

"I definitely was in the zone and it was just a matter of finding the gaps, being aggressive going toward the ball and getting open," Moore said. "I had open looks so I knocked them in."

But the Huskies (17-0, 4-0 Big East) lost sharpshooter Caroline Doty to a knee sprain just before a showdown Monday night against No. 2 North Carolina.

Doty, who had 17 first-half points, went down on a fastbreak before halftime. Auriemma said he would not know the extent of the injury until after an MRI exam later Saturday.

It was the same knee that Doty had surgically repaired after tearing a ligament in September 2007.

"If it was a two-man sport, we might be in trouble," Moore said. "But that's why we have each other. We're going to pick each other up, and she's going to support us however she can. You've got to keep moving on."

Moore reached 1,000 points in her 55th game on a 3-pointer, making the score 69-34 with 15:23 left. Svetlana Abrosimova scored her 1,000th point in her 63rd game.

"It was the best game I've ever seen her play," said Renee Montgomery, who had 14 points and 11 assists. "If we can get her that many looks, she can probably set records every single game. She's just a great player."

Chandrea Jones had 15 points for Syracuse (13-5, 2-3).

UConn struck early behind four 3-pointers by Doty in the first six minutes, helping the Huskies to a 22-9 lead. Connecticut opened the game with a full-court press, but had some trouble when the Orange responded with a press of their own.

The Huskies went 4:10 without a field goal and had four turnovers during that stretch as Syracuse cut the lead to 29-20.

But Moore had 11 points during a 19-8 run that ended with UConn ahead 48-28 at intermission.

The Huskies opened the second half with a 17-4 run and the rout was on.

Auriemma received a technical foul with just over 6 minutes left and his team up 56 points for screaming about Syracuse's physical play.

Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman, who said before the game that he thought his squad matched up well athletically with the Huskies, said there was nothing wrong with the way they played.

"I do not think that our team did anything dirty," Hillsman said. "I do not think that our team was overly physical. UConn is a very physical team. You cannot beat UConn if you do not play hard."

Tina Charles had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies, and Moore added 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.

Connecticut, which opened last season 21-0, is 17-0 for the seventh time since 1994-95.

UConn and North Carolina (17-0) head into Monday's matchup as two of three undefeated teams in the nation. Auburn (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) is the other perfect team at 17-0.

The Huskies are 8-2 in games pitting No. 1 against No. 2.

"Carolina is going to come and bring everything they have with their press," Moore said. "And we're going to bring what we have, and hopefully we can execute the way we've been practicing."