STORRS, Conn. — Connecticut's post players spent the last week in coach Geno Auriemma's dog house after allowing two opponents to outrebound the top-ranked Huskies.

Center Tina Charles responded last night with 15 points and 11 rebounds as UConn routed Providence, 80-54.

The Huskies dominated the glass in this one, 41-26, and gave up only seven second-chance points.

Kaili McLaren, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, made her first start of the season in place of forward Brittany Hunter, who missed her sixth game of the season with soreness in her surgically repaired right knee. McLaren played 25 minutes, hit all five of her shots, and finished with 11 points.

"Coach just puts an emphasis on down the road, post play is going to be the reason why we're going to win games," Charles said. "He's just pushing us and throwing everything at us and just saying everything he can just to motivate us."

Brittany Dorsey had 14 points and Kendria Holmes added 13 points and six assists for Providence (11-10, 1-6), which was able to match Connecticut's 31 points in the second half.

"Considering with the loss and all, I thought they played hard," said Providence coach Phil Seymoree. "They started to take some bad shots at the end, but I thought they gave it a good effort."

Auriemma was pleased with his team's effort, too.

Charles played just 13 minutes in UConn's win over South Florida Wednesday after some sloppy defensive play early. But, she came out of the blocks quickly in this one, hitting hit five of her first six shots. It was her 10th double-double of the season, and her two blocks moved her past Ann Strother into 10th place on Connecticut's all-time list with 121.

Freshman Maya Moore added 16 points, giving her double figures in all 21 of her collegiate games, and Ketia Swanier scored a career-high 17 to lead UConn (21-0, 8-0 Big East).

"I think Ketia, more than any other time since she's been at Connecticut, thinks of herself as a really, really good shooter, and everybody else has confidence in her, too," Auriemma said.

No. 4 Rutgers 64, No. 14 No. 14 Pittsburgh 60: Rashidat Junaid came off the bench to score eight consecutive points to spark a 15-1 run that helped the Scarlet Knights (18-3, 8-1 Big East) turn a 51-46 deficit with less than seven minutes remaining into a 61-52 lead en route to turning back the Panthers (17-4, 7-1) in Pittsburgh.

Junaid's strong game came after coach Vivian Stringer pulled her aside and told her, "Just being OK, that's not enough. You've got to be better."

"So it was good to see her do that," Stringer said.

No. 6 Baylor 63, No. 18 Kansas State 49: Jessica Morrow scored 16 points and helped key a 17-2 second-half run that gave the Lady Bears (20-1, 8-0 Big 12) a 51-37 lead in stretching their winning streak to 13, while stopping a 10-game winning streak for the host Wildcats (15-6, 7-1) at Manhattan, Kan.

"For whatever reason, we were very, very flat," Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said. "Baylor came in here, on the road in a hostile environment, and didn't blink."

No. 7 Stanford 75, UCLA 62: Candice Wiggins scored 31 points to boost her school-record total to 2,253 and freshman Kayla Pedersen had a career-high 28 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and three steals as the Cardinal (19-3, 9-2 Pac-10) rolled past the Bruins (11-11, 6-5) at Stanford, Calif.

"Every game for us is playing for the Pac-10 championship. It will be exciting to see how our team responds," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "This was a big win for us."

No. 10 California 60, USC 55: Devanei Hampton had 20 points and 15 rebounds, including a jumper for a 53-51 lead with 1:27 left in overtime, and the Golden Bears (19-3, 10-1 Pac-10) made five of six free throws down the stretch to beat the Trojans (13-9, 6-5) at Berkeley, Calif.

"We have a lot of heart," said Cal guard Alexis Gray-Lawson, who added 11 points. "We work really well together, especially when we're struggling. That's the best part of our team. When someone is struggling, we always pick the slack up for each other. Tonight it was Devanei. She had a great game."

BYU 56, No. 15 Wyoming 42: Led by freshmen Mallary Carling with 18 points and Mindy Neilson with 13 points, the Cougars (11-8, 5-2 Mountain West) upset the Cowgirls (18-3, 6-2), who shot just 22 percent at Provo, Utah.

No. 16 George Washington 73, Duquesne 65: Kimberly Beck scored 19 points and the visiting Colonials (18-4, 6-1 in Atlantic 10) used two runs — 13-2 and 10-0 — to open up a 29-15 lead and beat the Dukes (11-11, 2-5) at Pittsburgh, giving coach Joe McKeown his 500th career victory.

No. 20 Notre Dame 73, Cincinnati 41: Charel Allen scored 16 points to lead four teammates in double figures, and the Irish (17-5, 5-3 Big East) closed the first half with a 9-0 run to tie it at 26, then opened the second half with a 12-0 run and never looked back in cruising past the Bearcats (10-11, 1-8) at Cincinnati.

No. 21 Oklahoma State 82, Colorado 71: Andrea Riley scored 30 points and the Cowgirls (17-3, 5-2 Big 12) also got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Shaunte Smith and 14 points from Danielle Green in sending the Lady Buffs (13-8, 2-6) to their sixth loss in seven games since winning 11 straight.

Georgetown 78, No. 22 Syracuse 71: Kieraah Marlow scored 19 points, Shanice Fuller added 16 and the host Hoyas (12-9, 2-6 Big East) led most of the game, and never trailed in the final 10 minutes in beating the Orange (17-4, 5-3) in Washington for their first win over a ranked opponent in four years.

No. 23 DePaul 78, Villanova 55: Allie Quigley scored 23 points, Deirdre Naughton added 21, and the Blue Demons (16-5, 5-3 Big East) used a 21-6 run midway through the first half to take a 44-28 lead at intermission and were never threatened by the Wildcats (12-10, 2-7) in Chicago.

Creighton 75, No. 24 Illinois State 71: Kelsey Woodard scored 20 points to lead three teammates in double figures and the Bluejays (13-5, 6-3 Missouri Valley) won at Normal, Ill., stopping the Redbirds' (18-2, 8-1) 14-game winning streak.