HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -Charde Houston scored 19 points, Tina Charles added 18 and No. 3 Connecticut opened its Big East conference tournament Sunday with a 74-54 quarterfinal win over the University of South Florida.

The Huskies (28-2) opened slowly. USF hit just four of its first 14 shots, but the game was tied 10-10 thanks in part to a technical foul on UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

But UConn then went on a 13-0 run capped by a Houston layup that made it 23-10 with less than 9 minutes to go before intermission.

Jessica Dickson (Ocala, Fla.) led the Bulls (20-11) with 18 points. ChiChi Okpaleke (Tampa, Fla.) and Nalini Miller (Capital Heights, Md.) each added 10, but Miller fouled out with 7:41 remaining.

Dickson had just 11 points in the Bulls' 81-68 loss to UConn in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 20, but had 10 by halftime in this one. The Bulls scored six consecutive points to end the half, but still trailed 36-24.

UConn stretched the lead to 49-28 early in the second half and cruised from there.

The Huskies shot 52 percent from the field, and held the Bulls to 31 percent.

Charles, who scored 34 against USF in the earlier meeting, was 8-of-11 from the field Sunday and had 10 rebounds. Houston pulled down 11 boards.

Kalana Greene added 11 points for the Huskies and Renee Montgomery had 10 points and six assists.

Connecticut finished the regular season 16-0 in the Big East, winning its conference games by an average of 25 points.

The Huskies will face No. 20 Louisville in Monday's semifinals. The Cardinals beat West Virginia 68-56 earlier Sunday.

The top seed has not won the tournament since 2002 when UConn won the national title with a 39-0 record. That also was the last year anyone won both the regular-season and Big East tournament titles in the same season.