UConn thumps Temple

Connecticut's Tiffany Hayes shoots over Temple's Natasha Thames, right, and B.J. Williams.

NORFOLK - Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma hugged his former assistant before their teams met in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.

Once the game started, affection gave way to near perfection by the Huskies.

UConn was flawless at both ends of the floor against Temple, romping 90-36 last night. It was the top-seeded Huskies' 74th win in a row, the longest streak in NCAA Division I women's history, and one of the most impressive.

It may also have been one of the least enjoyable for Auriemma since it came against a team coached by second-year Owls coach Tonya Cardoza, one of his assistants for 14 years.

But Cardoza and the eighth-seeded Owls (25-9) never had a chance.

Maya Moore hit 3-pointers on the Huskies' first two possessions, they ran off 20 points in a row in six minutes after Temple closed within 13-5, and finished the half on a 20-1 burst.

Qweida Wallace led the Owls with 12 points, but on 4 for 17 shooting.

Kelly Faris added 13, Tina Charles had 12, and Tiffany Greene 11 for the Huskies, who led 55-12 at the intermission. And that was after the Owls got a 6-2 run.

While Connecticut shot almost 78 percent in the half, the Owls treated the ball like a hot potato in the face of the Huskies' unrelenting defense, making just 5 of 32 shots.

No. 3 Xavier 63,

No. 6 Vanderbilt 62

CINCINNATI - No watching and wincing this year. Amber Harris is taking Xavier places in the NCAA tournament.

The Atlantic 10's player of the year led the Musketeers' last-minute comeback night, and made a go-ahead layup with 12.3 seconds left that gave Xavier a victory over Vanderbilt.

The Musketeers (29-3) will take a 20-game winning streak into its Sacramento Regional semifinal against Gonzaga on Saturday.

Down by 10 midway through the second half, Xavier let its unstoppable player lead the way to a breakthrough win. The Musketeers hadn't been to the round of 16 since coach Melanie Balcomb led them to the Elite Eight in 2001, before moving to Vanderbilt.

Back in the building, Balcomb almost led the Commodores (23-11) to a big upset.

Vanderbilt led most of the game behind the steadying play of All-SEC point guard Jence Rhoads, who had 20 points and seven assists.

No. 2 Notre Dame 84,

No. 10 Vermont 66

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Skylar Diggins had a season-high 31 points, seven steals, and six assists to lead Notre Dame to a victory over Vermont.

The Irish finished with 19 steals and forced the Catamounts into a season-high 25 turnovers. Notre Dame, which fell behind by 10 points eight minutes into the game, finished the half on a 32-13 run to open a 42-33 lead at intermission. The Catamounts never got closer than eight points.

Notre Dame (29-5) advanced to the Kansas City Regional semifinal, their eighth trip to the round of 16 in last 14 years. Vermont (27-7), which beat Wisconsin on Sunday for its first NCAA tournament win ever, fell to 0-8 all-time vs. top 10 teams. The Irish finished the regular season ranked No. 7.

No. 2 Mississippi 90,

No. 5 Texas Tech 87

OXFORD, Miss. - Murphy Holloway converted a three-point play with three seconds left in the second overtime to give Mississippi a win over Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

Tied 87-87 with 8.7 seconds left, Ole Miss point guard Chris Warren took the inbound pass, drove the length of the floor, and found Holloway streaking down the left baseline. Holloway converted the acrobatic layup while fouled and hit the free throw.

Ole Miss (24-10) advanced to the NIT semifinals for the second time in three seasons and improved to 11-1 in NIT home games.