NEW YORK -- Christyn Williams and the top-ranked UConn Huskies looked refreshed after a couple days off.
Williams scored 21 points and Paige Bueckers added 20 to help UConn cruise to a 77-32 victory over St. John's on Wednesday night.
The Huskies started February with five games in 10 days before getting last weekend off.
"We showed up tonight with fresh legs and fresh minds and you could see it," UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said. "When you go every other day with a game, you mentally get more tired then you do physically. Then the physical stuff follows. Get out of that into a regular mode, that mentally put us in a really good place."
UConn (17-1, 14-0 Big East) moved to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time this season. It's the 246th week since the 1994-95 season that the Huskies have held the top spot. They have been No. 1 for at least one week in each of the past nine seasons. The next closest active streak is two years in a row.
UConn had been getting off to slow starts lately, but took command early Wednesday, building an 18-6 lead after the first quarter behind Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who had eight points in the opening period. She finished the game with 17 points.
The Red Storm (6-12, 3-9) had more turnovers -- seven -- than points or made baskets in the quarter. They tried to slow the game, working the shot clock down on many possessions. That resulted in either tough shots to beat the buzzer or a shot-clock violation.
"I thought our defense was really good. It was good team-wise and we did a great job individually defensively," Auriemma said. "I thought as a team, our team defense was outstanding tonight. We were really locked in with what we wanted to do. It was just really, really good. They didn't get a lot of clean, easy, open looks."
UConn continued its hot shooting in the second quarter, extending the lead to 46-15 at the half. The Huskies shot 76% (19 of 25) from the floor, including hitting four of five from behind the three-point line in the first 20 minutes.
It didn't get much better for the Red Storm in the second half. The Huskies finished the game shooting 65% from the floor.
St. John's has lost its last six meetings to the Huskies, including a 94-62 setback on Feb. 3. St. John's was the last unranked team to beat UConn back in 2012 -- nine years ago Thursday -- when the Red Storm ended the Huskies' 99-game home winning streak.
Leading scorer Leilani Correa came into the game averaging 20.9 points, but she had just two against the Huskies, making 1 of 10 shots. The sophomore guard had 33 points in the Feb. 3 matchup.
"UConn did a lot to take us out of what we hoped to do," St. John's Coach Joe Tartamella said. "They put pressure on us and we didn't really respond."
Unique Drake was one of three players with seven points to lead the Red Storm.
NO. 9 MARYLAND 103,
ILLINOIS 58
COLLEGE, PARK, Md. -- Katie Benzan scored 22 points, including 6 of 12 from three-point range, to lead ninth-ranked Maryland to a rout of Illinois.
Chloe Bibby had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Terrapins, who extended their winning streak to four games. Ashley Owusu added 17 points and seven assists, while Diamond Miller had 11 points and seven assists for Maryland (15-2, 11-1 Big Ten).
The Terrapins lead the nation with 91.7 points per game, but their defense was just as impressive, smothering the Fighting Illini (3-14, 1-13).
Jada Peebles scored 18 points in 37 minutes, and freshman Aaliyah Nye added 11 points for the Fighting Illini.
Maryland, which won the rebounding battle 52-37, improved to 12-0 against Illinois.
NO. 12 SOUTH FLORIDA 69,
CINCINNATI 65, OT
TAMPA, Fla. -- Sydni Harvey scored eight of her 23 points in overtime, Bethy Mununga had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and South Florida beat Cincinnati.
Elisa Pinzan added 11 points and nine assists for USF (12-1, 10-0 American Athletic). The Bulls have won 11 in a row overall and 10 consecutive conference games, both program records.
Jada Scott made a layup to give Cincinnati (4-14, 3-11) a 65-64 lead with 1:26 left in overtime but Mununga hit two free throws 21 seconds later and the Bearcats didn't score again.
IImar'I Thomas had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 7 points for Cincinnati.
NO. 19 DePAUL 83,
XAVIER 75
CHICAGO -- Lexi Held scored 25 points, Sonya Morris added 22 points and Dee Bekelja had 20 as No. 19 DePaul beat Xavier in the Musketeers' first game since Jan. 23.
DePaul led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but Xavier got within 65-62 early in the fourth quarter. The Blue Demons answered with a 7-2 run, with four points from Morris, to rebuild a two-possession lead they would hold the rest of the way despite only making one field goal in the final four minutes.
Held also had six assists and five steals, Morris had six rebounds and seven assists and Bekelja grabbed six rebounds for DePaul (13-4, 10-2 Big East). Morris reached 1,000 career points on a layup in the fourth quarter.
NEBRASKA 71,
NO. 24 NORTHWESTERN 64
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Kate Cain matched a career-high with 22 points, Isabelle Bourne had 21 points and a career-best 17 rebounds, and Nebraska pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat No. 24 Northwestern.
Nebraska (10-9, 8-8 Big Ten) ended a four-game losing streak despite committing 28 turnovers, and swept the season series against Northwestern (11-5, 9-5). The Cornhuskers won the first meeting 65-63 on Sam Haiby's buzzer-beating putback.
Cain scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and Bourne added eight as Nebraska outscored the Wildcats 31-20. Haiby finished with just five points on 1-of-12 shooting but had 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Lindsey Pulliam scored 22 points to lead Northwestern. Sydney Wood had 12 points and six assists. Jordan Hamilton added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Veronica Burton had 10 points and eight steals. The Wildcats had 21 steals but were outrebounded 52-33.
TOP 25 MEN
NO. 17 S. CALIFORNIA 89,
ARIZONA 71
LOS ANGELES -- Evan Mobley had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and No. 17 Southern California beat Arizona State to stay atop the Pac-12.
Isaiah Mobley added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Tahj Eaddy had 18 points for the Trojans, who improved to 18-3 to start a season for the first time since 1973-74. They're 12-2 in the league and have won 13 of 14 overall.
Pac-12 scoring leader Remy Martin scored 30 points -- three off his career high -- for Arizona State (7-10, 4-7). Kimani Lawrence added 12 points and Jalen Graham had 10 before fouling out.
NO. 24 KANSAS 59,
KANSAS STATE 41
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Marcus Garrett scored 14 points, Jalen Wilson added 11 and No. 23 Kansas beat Kansas State.
The Jayhawks (16-7, 10-5 Big 12) held the Wildcats to a season low in points despite a ho-hum offensive performance.
Kansas shot 46% (22 for 48) from the floor and held Kansas State (5-18, 1-13) to 31% on 18-for-58 shooting.
The Wildcats have lost a school-record 13 consecutive games. The teams were abysmal from the three-point line, with Kansas going 4 for 16 and Kansas State at 3 for 24, including two in the final minutes.
NO. 25 LOYOLA-CHICAGO 54,
VALPARAISO 52
CHICAGO -- Keith Clemons scored 16 points, Cameron Krutwig added 13 and No. 22 Loyola Chicago made a defensive stop in the final seconds to hang on for a victory over Valparaiso.
The Ramblers (19-4, 14-2 Missouri Valley) have won 12 of 13 and extended their home winning streak to 20 games. Loyola lost its previous game, 51-50, in overtime at Drake on Sunday.
Zion Morgan had 15 points and Ben Krikke and Goodnews Kpegeol had 10 points apiece for Valparaiso (8-15, 5-9).
SEC MEN
KENTUCKY 82,
VANDERBILT 78
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Davion Mintz had 18 points, Jacob Toppin scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and Kentucky blew a 17-point lead before holding on to beat Vanderbilt.
Isaiah Jackson had 15 points and nine rebounds, Brandon Boston Jr. added 12 points and three steals and Olivier Sarr had 10 points and four blocks for Kentucky (7-13, 6-7).
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored six points and Dylan Disu added five in an 11-5 spurt that pulled Vanderbilt (6-11, 2-9) within a point with 26 seconds left but Toppin, Boston and Devin Askew combined to go 8 of 8 from the free-throw line from there.
Disu had career highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds for the Commodores and Pippen finished with 21 points.
Kentucky scored the first 10 points and never trailed. Boston hit a three-pointer and then took a steal coast-to-coast for a dunk 17 seconds later to spark a 15-3 run that made it 25-8 midway through the first half.
Issac McBride (Baptist Prep) hit a three-pointer to trim the Commodores' deficit to 12 at halftime and Vanderbilt scored 16 of the first 20 points of the second half to tie it at 46-all but Mintz answered with a three-pointer and Kentucky led the rest of the way.
