MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Diana Taurasi led five Connecticut players in double figures with 14 points and the fourth-ranked Huskies bounced back after their 69-game home winning streak was snapped, beating West Virginia 82-57 Wednesday night.
Jessica Moore and Barbara Turner added 12 points, Ashley Battle 11 and Ann Strother 10 for UConn, which overcame a shaky start in its Big East opener to extend its conference regular-season winning streak to 44 games.
Yolanda Paige scored 14, Meg Bulger 13 and Sherell Sowho 11 for West Virginia, which lost to UConn for the 13th straight time.
After its one-point loss to Duke on Saturday, UConn dropped from the No. 1 spot it had held for 15 consecutive polls dating to last season. In that game UConn squandered a 20-point lead in the first half, but Wednesday they never were threatened with losing consecutive games for the first time in 11 years.
The Huskies earned their 33rd consecutive road win, coming against a team accustomed to one-sided beatings from UConn. In their past six meetings, the Huskies' average margin of victory has been 41 points.
West Virginia wore down quickly, dressing nine players because of injuries and two early season defections.
The Mountaineers were plagued by foul trouble, failed to chase down loose balls and couldn't keep up with UConn players cutting inside for easy layups.
UConn trailed 10-6 before taking control with first-half runs of 9-0 and 12-0.
NO. 3 TEXAS 73, KANSAS 54: Stacy Stephens had a season-high 26 points and Heather Schreiber and Tiffany Jackson had strong performances for the visiting Longhorns in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Schreiber made three 3-pointers and scored 18 and Jackson had 16 points for Texas, which won its sixth straight.
NO. 11 KANSAS ST. 95, MISSOURI 59: Nicole Ohlde scored 31 and Laurie Koehn a season-high 25 for the host Wildcats in their Big 12 opener.
NO. 14 COLORADO 69, NO. 24 BAYLOR 59: Kate Fagan scored 17 and Tera Bjorklund 16 to lead the visiting Buffaloes.
NO. 15 OKLA. 70, NEBRASKA 51: Maria Villarroel scored 19 and the host Sooners scored 26 off Cornhuskers turnovers in the Big 12 opener for both.
RUTGERS 56, NO. 16 VA. TECH 43: Cappie Pondexter had 18 points and the host Scarlet Knights upset a ranked team for the third time in less than a month.
NO. 20 BC 73, PROVIDENCE 53: Jessalyn Deveny scored 17 and the visiting Eagles extended the best start in school history to 12-1.
VILLANOVA 58, NO. 24 UM 55: Liad Suez scored 26 and made the winning shot with 25 seconds left for the host Wildcats.
