TAMPA, Fla. (AP) (February 20, 2007) -- Tina Charles scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 17 rebounds Tuesday night, leading No. 3/3 Connecticut to its 11 consecutive victory, 81-67 over USF.
Charde Houston had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies (25-2, 14-0 BIG EAST) clinched their first outright Big East regular-season title in three years and remained unbeaten through 14 league games for the sixth time in the program's history.
USF (18-9, 8-6 BIG EAST) lost for the fourth time in five games, letting UConn gradually pull away after keeping it close for a half before a crowd of 5,241 -- a record for a USF women's home game.
Charles, a 6-foot-4 freshman, made 14-of-19 shots from the field and went 6-for-7 at the foul line to surpass her previous scoring high of 20. Her 17 rebounds -- eight in the second half -- were two shy of the 19 she had against Syracuse on Jan. 13.
UConn trailed 22-20 before taking the lead for good with a quick 8-0 surge. It was 38-32 at the half, and the Huskies were never seriously threatened after Renee Montgomery and Kalana Green, who had 10 points and eight rebounds, scored to build the advantage to double digits.
Nalini Miller (Capital Heights, Md.) scored 18 points and Shantia Grace (Sarasota, Fla.) added 17 for USF. Bulls leading scorer Jessica Dickson (Ocala, Fla.) was limited to two points in the second half and finished with 11 on 5-for-16 shooting.
Rachael Sheats (Marietta, Ga.) also tallied 12 points and dished out a game-high six assists in the loss.
USF will not have much time to relax. The Bulls will hit the road to face No. 19/19 Marquette in Milwaukee on Saturday before returning home for the regular season finale on Feb. 26 against Seton Hall at 7 p.m.
