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Dec. 8, 2005

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VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Ann Strother scored a season-high 24 points and had 10 rebounds, Renee Montgomery added 14 points and No. 8 Connecticut bounced back from its worst home loss in 21 years with a 72-56 win over Villanova on Thursday night.

The Huskies (7-1, 1-0 Big East) were challenged for a half before Strother scored a string of baskets to help them avoid consecutive losses for the first time since 1992-93.

UConn was coming its worst home loss in coach Geno Auriemma's 21 seasons, losing 77-54 to No. 7 North Carolina on Monday night. The loss was the earliest home setback for the five-time NCAA champs in 15 years.

Certainly, if any team could have made a serious run at dealing the Huskies their second loss in a week, it's the Wildcats (5-2, 0-1). Villanova snapped UConn's 70-game winning streak in the 2003 Big East tournament title game and followed that up a season later with a win over the top-ranked Huskies.

Too talented and too determined to avoid what would have been an embarrassment at the basketball powerhouse, the Huskies scored the first six points of the second half to turn a one-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead and they cruised from there.

Strother, who entered averaging a team-high 14.4 points and finished 10-for-14, hit a pair of jumpers to get the run rolling. Kalana Greene used a nice pump-fake to drive the baseline and get fouled on a layup. She sank the free throw to give the Huskies a 37-32 lead.

Villanova hung tight for a while, with Betsy McManus hitting a 3 that pulled the Wildcats to 39-35, but Strother came back down on the next possession and stepped right inside the 3-point arc to bury a jumper.

Mel Thomas was fouled on an off-balance right-handed layup in the lane and finished the three-point play for a 44-37 lead. When Thomas hit a 3 minutes later that made it 53-39, UConn was on its way.

Lisa Karcic led the Wildcats with 14 points and Jackie Adamschick had 13.