Syracuse Syracuse/Connecticut UConn Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Svetlana Abrosimova picked up her game and her teammates in the second half Saturday as No. 2 Connecticut overcame a sloppy first half and beat Syracuse 84-60.

Abrosimova had 20 of her 25 points and all four of her steals after intermission. The score was tied 34-34 at halftime, with Connecticut having committed 17 turnovers.

"I was upset," Abrosimova said. "I took it personally because I'm a senior and I'm supposed to help my teammates. I knew we were going to win. It was just a matter of how."

"She needs to take it personally more often," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I don't know if you can play any worse offensively than we played in the first half."

The Huskies tightened their defense in the second half, forcing Syracuse into 17 turnovers. The Huskies committed only nine.

"We did what I had hoped we would do in the first half," Auriemma said. "Our defense stepped up, we got our hands on a couple passes. That broke the game open."

Sue Bird also helped in the second half, making three of her five steals. Bird's second steal of the half and assist to Abrosimova with 16:03 left capped a 12-2 run and the Huskies began to pull way. Abrosimova had seven points during the spurt, including the first of her two 3-pointers.

"I think she can play like that every night if she wants to," Bird said. "It seemed like if we needed a three _ boom _ she'd hit one."

Swin Cash had her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies (17-1, 7-1 Big East).

The Orangewomen (9-8, 3-4), led by Jaime James, played UConn even in the first half, but stumbled against the Huskies' smothering defense in the second. The Huskies outscored Syracuse 50-26 in the final 20 minutes on 61 percent shooting.

"When they got the lead, they didn't let up," Syracuse coach Marianna Freeman said. "That's what winners do."

Cash led UConn's dominating inside play as the Huskies outrebounded Syracuse 44-29 and outscored the Orangewomen 42-10 in the paint.

The Huskies had a 28-9 rebounding advantage in the first half, but couldn't capitalize. Syracuse took advantage of the UConn turnovers and got consecutive 3-pointers from Leaf Newman and James in the first 11 minutes.

Bird finished with 12 points and Asjha Jones added 11 for UConn.

James and Julie McBride led Syracuse with 14 points apiece.

The Huskies have won the last eight games against the Orangewomen.

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