NEW YORK -- Ann Strother, one of five Connecticut recruits playing in the inaugural McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Girls Game, scored 21 points to lead the West to a 94-85 victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

	Ann Strother, center, one of five UConn recruits playing Thursday, scored 21 points to lead the West.

On the night the boy's game celebrated its 25th anniversary, the girls got their first chance and took advantage of showcasing their game before a crowd of better than 15,000.

"I have watched the boys on TV and it's just amazing that we came here and played at Madison Square Garden," said Strother, a 6-foot-1 forward from Highlands Ranch, Colo. "I'm looking forward to playing with all of them all next season. That's going to be fun."

The other Connecticut recruits in the game were Strother's West teammate Willmet Crockett of Harbor City, Calif., who had six points and 11 rebounds; and East players Nicole Wolff of Walpole, Mass., who had five points and four rebounds; Barbara Turner of Cleveland, who had 15 points; and Gillian Goring, a 6-7 center from Waterloo, Iowa, who didn't make her final decision to attend UConn until this week and had six points and three rebounds.

"Now that I've had a chance to hang around with these girls I know I made the right decision," said Goring, who said she will sign the letter of intent on Wednesday and join the recruiting class that has to replace four starters from the UConn team that went undefeated in winning this year's national championship. "I can't wait for all of us to be teammates."

Strother was selected co-Most Valuable Player of the game along with Shanna Zolman of Syracuse, Ind., who had 21 points, five assists and seven steals. She is headed to Tennessee.

"The only way I can put this into words is that it's great being part of history, a pioneer of women's basketball at something of this stature," Zolman said. "I don't think any of this will sink in until down the road."

An example of how dominant Connecticut's presence was in this game, its recruits scored all but five of the game's final 20 points.

Goring gave the East its final lead at 83-82 with 3:05 to play. Strother then hit a 3-pointer that started the West's closing 12-2 run.

Tye'sha Fluker of Pasadena, Calif., who is also headed to Tennessee, had 10 rebounds for the West, which finished with an 82-46 advantage on the boards.

"Their post players were so much more physical," Zolman said. "They would get second and third shots. We just couldn't put a body on anybody."

Brooke Smith of Kenfield, Calif., who will play at Duke, and Ruby Vaden of Osceola, Ark., who will play at Arkansas, each added 13 points for the West, while Nikki Blue of Bakersfield, Calif., who will play at UCLA, had 10 points.

Seimone Augustus of Baton Rouge, La., who is undecided about her college choice, added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the East.