This Time Connecticut Steals One

It’s easier to win when the other team keeps throwing you the ball.

Ask Ashley Battle, who perched herself in the passing lanes and kept picking the ball off, running down the court and making layups. She finished with career highs of 17 points and seven steals as top-ranked Connecticut beat Georgetown, 97-57, Wednesday night in a Big East Conference game at Washington.

“I just wanted to go out there and try to get some easy buckets and just play the passing lanes,” said Battle, who made seven of nine shots.

Battle’s steals and layups keyed a 15-0 first-half run as Connecticut, which improved to 27-0 overall and 14-0 in the conference, clinched the No. 1 seeding in the Big East tournament and at least a share of a 10th consecutive regular-season conference title.

The Huskies didn’t face much resistance as they extended their NCAA-record winning streak to 66 games. They shot a season-high 68% and scored on 13 of 14 possessions during one stretch -- with a charging foul on Diana Taurasi ending the only scoreless trip.

Battle converted steals into layups on consecutive possessions to cap the 15-0 run that put the Huskies up, 27-7.

“She has that sixth sense on the court,” said Taurasi, who scored 17 points despite early foul trouble. “It’s just amazing. I was just standing there, and she was shooting layup, layup, layup. It was awesome to watch.”

Rebekkah Brunson scored 20 points to lead Georgetown (14-11, 5-9), which lost its 17th in a row in the series.

Taurasi scored Connecticut’s first eight points, but she picked up three early fouls and played only 12 minutes in the first half.

No. 5 Kansas State 80, Kansas 57 -- Megan Mahoney scored 21 points and Nicole Ohlde had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (26-2, 13-1) over the Jayhawks (10-15, 3-11) at Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas State completed the first perfect season (18-0) in Bramlage Coliseum history.

No. 7 Texas Tech 50, Nebraska 35 -- Jia Perkins scored 19 points and Plenette Pierson had 14 of her 15 rebounds in the second half to lead the Red Raiders (23-3, 12-2) over the Cornhuskers (8-17, 1-13) in a Big 12 game at Lincoln, Neb.

Texas Tech held Nebraska to three field goals and seven points over the first 17 minutes of the second half.

No. 10 Texas 79, Baylor 57 -- Heather Schreiber scored 23 points and had nine rebounds to lead the Longhorns (20-5, 13-1) over the Bears (17-9, 6-8) in a Big 12 game at Waco, Texas.

Schreiber made nine of 15 shots, including three three-pointers. As a team, Texas was nine of 13 on three-pointers.

No. 18 Villanova 65, No. 23 Boston College 62 -- Trish Juhline scored a career-high 32 points and Katie Davis had 17 to lead the Wildcats (21-4, 11-3) over the Eagles (18-7, 10-4) in a Big East game at Boston College. It was Villanova’s seventh consecutive victory.

No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 85, Long Beach State 70 -- Lindsay Taylor scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Gauchos (20-4, 12-1) over the 49ers (11-14, 8-6) at Long Beach to clinch the Big West Conference title. Santa Barbara has won eight consecutive conference championships.

No. 20 Rutgers 67, Virginia Tech 42 -- Dawn McCullouch scored 23 points to lead the Scarlet Knights (19-5, 12-2) over the Hokies (17-8, 8-6) in a Big East game at Piscataway, N.J. It was the 10th consecutive victory for Rutgers.