USF women fall to No. 3 UConn 77-62

South Florida stayed with the No. 3 team in the nation for more than a half before falling 77-62 at Connecticut, becoming the 97th consecutive visitor to leave the Huskies home floor with a loss.

Caitlin Rowe scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Bulls (12-10, 4-4 Big East) and Inga Orekhova hit five 3's. Jasmine Wynne added 13 points for South Florida, which trailed by just a point, 38-37, two minutes into the second half.

"We feel like we can play with any team in the country," Wynne said. "We wish we could've had the win. There's no such thing as a moral victory, but we came out and played our hardest."

Tiffany Hayes had 33 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (19-2, 8-1). Stefanie Dolson added 22 points and 18 rebounds.

Hayes has 68 points combined in the last two games _ the most ever by a Husky in back-to-back contests. It was her 10th consecutive game in double figures and 18th this season.

"I definitely want to be that player that people can look up to and say, `OK, she's going to get it done for us,'" said Hayes, who dedicated her performance to former UConn football player Jasper Howard, a friend who was stabbed to death on campus in October, 2009. It was his birthday Saturday.

The win was the 790th in UConn coach Geno Auriemma's career.

Connecticut used a 17-5 second-half run to take control of the game. A three-point play by Hayes capped the burst and turned a 1-point game into a 55-42 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.

"(You) try to avoid the run when it comes," Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said. "The 8-0, the 10-2, the 16-4 runs that turn a three-to-four point game into 20. I thought we always stayed within striking distance. We avoided that run, that knockout punch."

UConn outrebounded USF 53-28, had 20 offensive boards and outscored the Bulls 32-16 in the paint.

"The difference in the game was the points in the paint and how well UConn rebounded," Fernandez said. "They absolutely exposed us on the glass."

Rose hit a 3-pointer to cut UConn's lead to 64-53 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but another 3-pointer from Hayes stretched the lead back out and gave her 32 points.

She scored her 33rd point a short time later on a free throw after a technical foul was called on Fernandez. It was a physical game with 34 fouls _ and UConn's Kelly Faris and South Florida's Tiffany Conner both fouled out.

Dolson had eight of UConn's first 10 points as the Huskies worked to get the ball inside early.