77–63. From December 18 to the 21, the Huskies competed in the Caribbean Classic held in Cancún, Mexico. The Huskies were undefeated at the tournament. After returning from Mexico, the Huskies traveled to South Carolina for their fifth consecutive road game. The team shot 57% from the field, and held their opponents to under 40%. Tina Charles has 21 points and 14 rebounds, helping lead the Huskies to their eleventh victory of the season. Connecticut hosted Hartford on New year's Eve. The Hartford Hawks, coached by former UConn star Jen Rizzotti, were no match, falling behind by 33 at halftime. Renee Montgomery hit 9 of 11 in the first half, and did not return in the second half after taking an elbow to the mouth. LSU came to Connecticut for the first game of the new year. Both teams had been to the prior Final Four, each losing in the semi-final round. However, LSU had graduated five seniors, so the Lady Tigers were not expected to be as strong as the previous year's team. The pollsters concurred, not giving LSU a single vote for a top 25 position in either of the two major polls. LSU played stronger than their ranking, losing by 13 for the third closest match of the season to that date. Renee Montgomery's six assists, brought her to 1500 points and 500 assists for her career, a mark reach by only two other UConn players, Diana Taurasi and Jen Rizzotti. Beginning of conference play The Big East opening game would be against South Florida USF would go on to win the WNIT this season, but UConn was far too strong on this day. USF was one of the nation's best scoring team, scoring over 100 on five occasions, including 126 against Grambling State. UConn decided to work on defense, and held USF to just over 25% from the field. USF scored only 11 points in the second half. The next game would be against West Virginia, in West Virginia, the home of UConn senior Renee Montgomery. In her first game in West Virginia, two years prior, she scored seven points. This time she would lead the team in points (28), assists(5), and steals(2) to lead UConn to a 30-point victory in front of her home town crowd. Three days later, UConn would play at home against DePaul. UConn built a 15-point lead by halftime against the