espnW Women's Basketball

STORRS, Conn. -- In what was supposed to be a heavyweight matchup, only Connecticut came out swinging.

Maya Moore scored 29 points and No. 2 UConn routed Duke 87-51 on Monday night, handing the third-ranked Blue Devils their first loss of the season.

The senior All-American also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists for the Huskies (21-1), who opened the game on a 23-2 run and ran away from the Blue Devils (20-1).

"We knew we had to have a really good start, because when you have a really good team in your place, you don't want them to think they can get in the game," Moore said.

Tiffany Hayes added 20 points for the Huskies, who have won 73 consecutive home games. It was UConn's ninth straight win since having its record 90-game win streak snapped in a loss to Stanford on Dec. 30.

Kelly Faris had 14 points, and Stefanie Dolson added eight points and 12 rebounds.

Jasmine Thomas had 13 point to lead Duke (20-1), which was making its first ever visit to Gampel Pavilion. She hit just four of her 16 shots.

"How many times can you keep letting someone punch you?" said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie. "I mean, the outcome was never in question here. You all know that. I am about the process and the fight, and we had no fight."

The loss came a day after the third-ranked Duke's men were routed by St. John's 93-78.

Connecticut opened the game by pressing on defense. Duke missed its first 12 shots, including six 3-pointers and the Huskies jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Shay Selby's layup just over 5 minutes into the game got the Blue Devils on the board.

They didn't score again until Karima Christmas hit a free throw with under 9 minutes left in the half, and by that time, UConn was up 23-3.

The Blue Devils hit just one of their first 20 shots from the floor and were one of 10 from behind the arc.

A lob pass from Lorin Dixon to Moore made it 38-9 Huskies, sending the already excited crowd into a frenzy. It was 40-9 when the students began chanting "overrated" at the Duke bench.

The Blue Devils shot under 16 percent from the floor in the first half and the Huskies went into halftime up 41-15.

"I never saw this coming," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "This was an unbelievable performance by us against a really good team."

Duke, which rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat North Carolina State on Jan. 23, opened the second half in a trapping press defense and went on a 14-7 run.

They cut the UConn lead to 50-32 on a Krystal Thomas layup. But UConn responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Moore from the top of the key.

The Huskies pushed the lead to 36 in the second half.

Duke finished with just 19 field goals and shot just 28 percent from the floor. UConn outrebounded Duke 49-28.

"We didn't compete," said Thomas. "We dug ourself in a hold and then didn't fight hard enough and stay together to get out of it."

It was Moore's 134th game in double figures, tying a record set by Courtney Paris at Oklahoma.

"When you have an athlete like Maya, the second she steps off the floor, you are kind of waiting for her to come back in," said Faris. "It's fun being on the floor with her. I can speak for everybody that when she's on the floor, she kind of relaxes us all."

The Huskies last home loss came in March, 2007, a 55-47 loss in the Big East Tournament championship game. The NCAA considers Big East and NCAA tournament games played at Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center as home games.