ANOTHER PURR-FECT VICTORY

The No.1 women's basketball team won, 74-47, Tuesday night against Villanova, clinching at least a tie for the Big East regular season title.

And once again, the Huskies made sure to win in dominating fashion, going on a 27-9 run to open up the game.

"I thought at the beginning they stormed us and threw us out of whack like they do a lot of different teams," said Villanova head coach Harry Perretta, "and by the time we actually recovered, we were down 18 or 20 points already. Their defense is very intense and it has been all year."

With the win, UConn also preserved the longest active home-court winning streak in America.

Yet, the assurance of at least part of the conference title is not enough for the team. Just ask Kalana Greene, or even head coach Geno Auriemma.

"We don't believe in ties," Greene said. "We want to outright win it. So, this is not like an incredible feat tonight, tying for the Big East Championship. We don't want to share that with anyone."

Greene added that she thought the team worked harder than any other team in the league.

And there were instances in Tuesday's game where players set themselves apart from the rest of the pack.

In fact, 12:06 into the game, Renee Montgomery had outscored the entire Villanova team, 13-9.

The Huskies did most of that without the offense from Maya Moore, who made just two shots in 30 minutes. She had four fouls, but added 11 total rebounds.

Although UConn was able to shut down most of the offense from the Wildcats, Laura Kurz had all 10 of Villanova's points during an eight minute stretch in the second half.

Yet, Kurz could not match the dominance of Tina Charles, who Auriemma said had one of her best games this season because of consistency throughout the game.

Perretta said that Charles' performance in the lane complimented Montgomery's perimeter shooting, forcing his team to make a decision as to who to guard and how to play.

The results, he said, speak for themselves.

"I think she's very good," Perretta said. "I have her as one of the top centers in the country."

"It's always important for me to come out and have a good offensive performance," Charles said. "Lately, coach has been saying that our starters have to go out and get double digits in order for us to win by a good margin. Everyone has been stepping up."

Charles also said that playing a post player who steps out of the lane as frequently as Villanova's Shannon Elliott makes the game more tiring.

It was also the first time that Auriemma spoke about a chance to go 30-0, something he said that he does not like to talk about until it is in the team's reach.

"Before today, we just talked about today being a game that gives us an opportunity to do something we've been trying to do since September," he said. "I don't think anybody in our locker room is doing any celebrations for tying. So we talked about what's next and what those two games mean."

"It's right there now, they can feel it, they can sense it and it's a tangible thing," he continues. "And I wanted them to think about that tomorrow on their day off and then come back on Thursday ready to put in five days of hard work because there's something we can accomplish in those five days that puts them up there with some of the great teams that we've had."