No. 2 UConn routs No. 1 South Carolina

Storrs, CT (SportsNetwork.com) - South Carolina might sit atop the rankings, but it has never won a game like this.

Connecticut? It thrives in them.

The history of those records might not have mattered much in Monday's game between the top two teams in women's college basketball, but the result was the same.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 23 points, Breanna Stewart had 22 and No. 2 Connecticut knocked off top-ranked South Carolina 87-62 at Gampel Pavilion to hand the Gamecocks their first loss of the season.

Morgan Tuck added 17 points and Moriah Jefferson scored 16 as UConn (23-1) got its 22nd consecutive victory since losing in overtime at Stanford on Nov. 17, which allowed South Carolina to take over the No. 1 ranking.

The Huskies improved to 17-3 all-time in games played between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Associated Press rankings.

The record includes last year's win over Notre Dame in the first women's national championship game between two undefeated teams.

South Carolina (22-1) suffered its first loss since falling to North Carolina in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last March 30, ending the team-record winning streak.

The Gamecocks, who were led by 17 points each from Aleighsa Welch and Tiffany Mitchell, were 5-0 this season against ranked opponents before Monday.

The program has never beaten a team ranked higher than No. 3 and has now lost all three of its games against UConn by an average of 37.3 points.

The game was tight before UConn took the lead for good with a 10-0 run in the first half highlighted by 3-pointers from Mosqueda-Lewis and Tuck. The lead reached 17 before halftime and was never lower than 10 in the second half.

The Huskies shot better than 55 percent in the game and forced 17 turnovers.