Big East champs again: UConn women pull away from WVU

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kalana Greene scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and top-ranked Connecticut captured the Big East Tournament title and stretched its winning streak to a record 72 games with a 60-32 triumph over No. 9 West Virginia.

Tiffany Hayes had 15 points, while Tina Charles contributed 12 points, 10 boards and four blocks for the Huskies (33-0), who pulled away over the game's final 15 minutes and didn't allow a field goal for the Mountaineers over an 11-minute stretch in the second half.

Maya Moore tallied 10 points for the Huskies, who are assured of being the top-seeded team for the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, they broke their own longest winning streak in NCAA Division I women's basketball history with a 59-44 victory over sixth-ranked Notre Dame.

The only longer winning streak in NCAA Division I basketball history is the 88-game run the UCLA men had from 1971-1974.

Since the 1993-94 season, Connecticut has won either the Big East regular season or tourney title in 17 consecutive seasons - and has captured both titles 12 times over that span. They've won both three straight years and have captured five of the last six tournament championships and have a total of 16 Big East titles overall.

Liz Repella totaled 10 points for the second-seeded Mountaineers (28-5), who shot just 24.1 percent from the field and have yet to win the conference title. They were beaten by UConn in the 2006 final.

Natalie Burton's free throw trimmed West Virginia's deficit to 33-28 with 15 1/2 minutes left, but the Mountaineers went the next 11-plus minutes without a field goal, thanks to some suffocating defense.

During that time, the Huskies went on an amazing 27-2 spurt. Moore started the flurry with a jumper and Meghan Gardler's three-pointer widened the cushion to 56-30 with under five minutes left.

Korinne Campbell's jumper, with 12 minutes left, represented the last WVU field goal until Akeema Richards scored in the final minute.

West Virginia closed a 27-10 deficit to 30-20 at the half.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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