No. 3 UConn women win 98th in a row at home

STORRS, Conn. — The Connecticut Huskies have rededicated themselves to defense. It's been a huge problem for their opponents.

Third-ranked UConn held No. 13 Rutgers to a season-low 34 points in Saturday night's 66-34 victory.

"I thought defensively we were really, really, really good," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "One thing that doesn't maybe get as much notoriety is the scouting reports our (assistants) come up with. They take it real seriously. They make sure the players are really into it. By game time there is very little our players don't already know."

UConn leads the nation in points allowed, giving up just 45 a game. This week they held No. 5 Duke to 45 points Monday night and now stymied Rutgers.

"We had a couple games where coach wasn't pleased with our defense, so I think we've been definitely stepping up our defense just to prove to him and everyone else that our defense is the best in the country," said Stefanie Dolson, who led the Huskies with 16 points.

Tiffany Hayes added 14 points and seven assists for UConn, which won its 98th straight game at home.

The Huskies (21-2, 9-1 Big East) grabbed control with a 17-0 run midway through the first half. Hayes got the run started with eight straight points. Then Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis took over, hitting three straight 3-pointers. All three of the freshman's shots barely even moved the net.

"When Kaleena came in and we went on that run, the defense got fueled as well," Auriemma said. "We started rebounding better and playing better."

Rutgers (17-6, 6-4) scored seven straight to cut it to 10, but UConn closed the half with 14 of the final 18 points to lead 37-19 at the break.

It only got worse for the Scarlet Knights in the second half as they had only three baskets in the first 17 minutes, including a 7-minute stretch without a field goal.

"It's a lot of aggressiveness on our part," said Mosqueda-Lewis. "We've got to make sure we take some risks, we've got to make sure that we're getting into the lanes. We've got to make sure we're being as aggressive as coach is asking us to be."

It's been so long since the Huskies lost at home that no player on the roster has seen a defeat in Connecticut.

"I don't think we've lost at home since we've been here," Hayes said.

The senior guard didn't even know the last team to knock off the Huskies at home was.