Top-Ranked UConn Wins 62nd Straight, 88-34 Over Cincinnati

Breanna Stewart scored 14 points off the bench Wednesday to lead top-ranked UConn to its 62nd consecutive win, an 88-34 rout of Cincinnati.

The senior added eight rebounds and five assists in just 21 minutes as UConn (25-0, 14-0 American Athletic) reached the 25-win plateau for the 23rd consecutive season.

Coach Geno Auriemma chose not to start Stewart, a two-time national player of the year, or his two other stars, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck.

Georgetown transfer Natalie Butler, who started at center for UConn, scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Ana Owens and Bianca Quisenberry each had nine points for Cincinnati (7-18, 3-11). The Bearcats, who lost by 62 points to the Huskies earlier in the season, have dropped five straight.

Jefferson and freshman Napheesa Collier each finished with 11 points. Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson had 10 points and Tuck, who played just 11 minutes, added eight points and six rebounds.

Cincinnati opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from Quisenberry. That was the only lead the Bearcats would have.

The game was tied at 15 after five straight Cincinnati baskets before UConn's big three made their first appearance with 3:26 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats scored just 19 more points the rest of the game.

A 3-pointer by Courtney Ekmark gave the Huskies a 25-19 after the first 10 minutes.

The Huskies scored 18 of the final 22 points of the half and led 45-25 at the break.

UConn went with its normal starting lineup in the second half and scored the first 20 points of the third quarter to put the game away.

The Huskies outscored Cincinnati 28-5 in the third, and 15-4 in the final quarter.

UConn's bench outscored Cincinnati's 46-4. That tied a season high for bench points that was set against Cincinnati in the teams' first meeting, a 107-45 Husky victory in Ohio on Dec. 30.

UConn outrebounded Cincinnati 46-24 and held the Bearcats to 28.6 percent shooting. The Bearcats made just 3 of 34 shots (12.5 percent) in the second half.

Stewart also had two blocked shots and needs just two more to move past Kara Wolters into second place in school history. Her eight rebounds tied her with Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott (1,054) for fifth place in UConn history.

The Huskies have reached 30 wins in 20 of the previous 22 seasons in which they won at least 25 games.

TIP-INS:

Cincinnati: Coach Jamelle Elliott, a former UConn player and assistant coach, is now 0-9 against her former team.

UConn: UConn is auctioning off the special pink-highlighted uniforms that players wore during the game to benefit the "Play4Kay" breast cancer charity. Breanna Stewart's No. 30 was going for $809 at game time. Someone had bid $309 for Geno Auriemma's pink tie. The auction site, http://uconnhuskies.cstvauctions.com/gallery.cfm, is taking bids until Friday.

UP NEXT

Cincinnati: The Bearcats play at Houston on Saturday.

UConn: The Huskies visit East Carolina on Saturday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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