The UConn women's basketball dynasty reached another milestone on Saturday, winning its 30th game for a record 10th consecutive season.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored all 18 of her points in the first half and top-ranked UConn cruised past Cincinnati 93-34 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Breanna Stewart added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (30-1), and four other Huskies scored in double figures.
"The idea is to play hard every game," said Moriah Jefferson, who finished with 12 points and nine assists. "You take it one game at a time. So if we win every game, it eventually ends up in 30 wins. We just try to play the same way every game."
Makenzie Cann and Chelsea Jamison each had eight points for Cincinnati. The ninth-seeded Bearcats, who beat Central Florida 76-66 in the tournament's opening round on Friday, finish their season at 8-23.
The Huskies improve their winning streak against American Conference opponents to 40-0. They were 36-0 over the past two regular seasons, and are 4-0 in conference tournament games. They won their 18 regular season conference games by an average of 48.7 points and have beaten Cincinnati by an average of 61.3 points in their three meetings this season.
"If you take UConn out of this league, I think it's a very competitive league from top to bottom," said Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott, who played and coached at UConn. "Obviously, they beat teams by a lot, but there are some other really good teams in our league."
UConn never trailed. Mosqueda-Lewis had 10 points as the Huskies opened the game with a 22-4 run. They led by 34 points at the half.
"I felt really confident every time I took a shot in the first half," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "Whether it was coming off a ball screen or coming off a down-screen from one of our post players. We started off well."
UConn shot 56 percent from the field while holding Cincinnati to just 14 field goals and 25.5 percent shooting.
The Huskies had 26 assists on 37 baskets and forced 17 Cincinnati turnovers.
Morgan Tuck Finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Moriah Jefferson also had 12 points.
Cincinnati was down just 22-11 after a 7-0 first-half run and. But Mosqueda-Lewis made one of her four 3-pointers, and the Huskies put the game out of reach with a 27-4 over the final 10 ½ minutes of the half. Stewart's 3-pointer from the left wing just before the halftime buzzer made it 49-15 at the break.
UConn's Kiah Stokes, the AAC defensive player of the year, blocked another three shots to give her 128 this season, three behind Rebecca Lobo's single-season school record of 131. She now has 306 in her career, and moved past Tina Charles (304) for third place on UConn's all-time blocks list.
Mosqueda-Lewis now has 375 baskets from behind the arc in her career, just 17 short of the NCAA record of 392. UConn's career leader in 3-pointers, needs just one more to tie former Oklahoma star Aaryn Ellenberg for 10th place on the all-time Division I list.
"Our guys are all about winning," said UConn coach Geno Auriemma. "So, win and all those good things that come to those who win will come too."
TIP-INS
UConn: The Huskies improved to 53-4 when entering a conference tournament at the top seed. They have been seeded No. 1 20 times and won a tournament title in 15 of those seasons. The Huskies have reached 30 wins 19 times.
Cincinnati: Elliott, who played on UConn's first national championship team and was an assistant coach there for 12 seasons, falls to 0-10 against the Huskies. The Bearcats also lost to UConn in last year's conference quarterfinal, 72-42.
UP NEXT
UConn: The Huskies face East Carolina in a semifinal matchup at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Pirates (21-9) beat fourth-seed Temple 77-71 in the quarterfinals.
Cincinnati: Season over.
