CINCINNATI (AP) - Natalie Novosel scored 21 points Saturday, and point guard Skylar Diggins steadied Notre Dame's balanced offense with 11 assists, leading the second-ranked Fighting Irish to a 76-50 victory over Cincinnati.
Notre Dame (17-1, 5-0 Big East) has won 14 straight, part of one of the three best starts in school history. The Irish have also won 19 straight games against teams from Ohio since 1993.
Dayeesha Hollins scored 14 points for Cincinnati (9-8, 0-4), which fell apart against Notre Dame's unrelenting defensive pressure. The Bearcats had 22 turnovers during their most lopsided loss.
The Fighting Irish completed a challenging stretch - four road games out of the last five. Their only home game during that stretch was a 74-67 overtime win that snapped Connecticut's 87-game Big East winning streak.
NO. 3 CONNECTICUT 72, VILLANOVA 49
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Tiffany Hayes scored 14 of her 22 points in the second half to lead Connecticut.
Rachel Roberts scored 16 points for the Wildcats, who got within five points when two baskets by Emily Leer made it 41-36, but Connecticut (14-2 overall, 4-1 Big East) answered by scoring 12 of the next 15 points to retake control of the game.
Hayes scored 10 straight points during a four-minute stretch to give UConn a 58-42 lead with less than six minutes to play.
Villanova (11-6, 2-3) went 7:49 without scoring in the first half, turning a 15-11 lead into a 26-15 deficit. Connecticut went into halftime leading 37-26.
NO. 4 STANFORD 80, COLORADO 54
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Joslyn Tinkle matched her career high with 20 points to lead Stanford to its 12th straight win.
Toni Kokenis and Chiney Ogwumike added 19 points each for the Cardinal (15-1, 6-0 Pac-12), who last lost on Nov. 21 to Connecticut 68-58.
Stanford got a scare when senior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who came in leading the conference in scoring at 24.0 points per game, tripped in a scramble under the basket and fell to the floor in pain with an apparent ankle injury four minutes into the game. But she returned midway through the first half after getting her ankle re-taped and finished with 15 points.
Brittany Wilson and Jen Reese both scored 10 points for Colorado (13-3, 2-3), which was 11-0 before beginning league play.
NO. 8 RUTGERS 71, NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 68, OT
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Erica Wheeler scored 23 points, including an off-balance 3-pointer with the shot clock running out in overtime to lift Rutgers.
Trailing 68-67, Wheeler corraled the rebound off a miss from Khadijah Rushdan and dribbled out to the 3-point line. She barely recognized the shot clock was down to its last tick before turning around and connecting with 1:12 left in the extra period.
The Scarlet Knights (15-2, 4-0 Big East) forced a shot clock violation on the other end. After Monique Oliver's lay-in rolled off the rim with 13 seconds left, Louisville had one last chance to tie it, but Bria Smith's drive came up short and Rushdan seal the win with a free throw with 1.2 seconds left.
Freshman Shawnta' Dyer led the Cardinals (14-4, 3-2) with a season-high 16 points.
KANSAS STATE 62, NO. 10 TEXAS TECH 61
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Jalana Childs scored 23 points to help Kansas State hand Texas Tech its second straight loss.
Childs scored seven of the Wildcats' last nine points to erase Texas Tech's 58-53 lead. She hit two free throws with 1:43 to put Kansas State (13-3, 4-0 Big 12) up for the first time since 43-40 earlier in the half.
The Lady Raiders (14-2, 2-2) had a chance with 6.6 seconds left after a jump ball. But Monique Smalls missed a short jumper as time expired.
Kierra Mallard scored 18 points and Christine Hyde and Morris scored 10 each. The win gave the Wildcats their first 4-0 start since winning the regular season Big 12 title in 2007-08.
NO. 12 TEXAS A&M 59, IOWA STATE 33
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Adaora Elonu scored 14 points and Texas A&M kept Iowa State winless in the Big 12.
The defending national champions harassed the Cyclones with a physical, aggressive defense in bouncing back from Wednesday night's home loss to unranked Texas. The 33 points matched the fewest Iowa State has scored in a game in coach Bill Fennelly's 17 seasons.
A&M (11-4, 2-2) closed the first half with a 15-1 run to open a 33-15 lead and Iowa State never seriously threatened through the final 20 minutes.
Iowa State (9-6, 0-4) trailed 18-14 after Chelsea Poppens made a reverse layup with 9:05 left in the first half. But the Cyclones didn't hit another field goal until Poppens threw in an off-balance putback as the shot clock buzzer sounded a little more than a minute into the second half.
NO. 14 WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 68, DETROIT 59
DETROIT (AP) - Adrian Ritchie scored 20 points to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay to its school-record 35th straight regular season victory.
Lydia Bauer added 16 points and Julie Wojta finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Phoenix (15-0, 5-0 Horizon League). Sarah Eichler had 13 points.
Up 29-22 at intermission, Green Bay allowed just one basket in the first eight minutes of the second half during a 13-5 run that pushed the lead into double digits. The Titans (8-10, 4-2) never got closer than seven points the rest of the game and finished the game with 23 turnovers.
Shareta Brown had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, which also got 18 points from Demeisha Fambro.
NO. 21 DEPAUL 86, PITTSBURGH 83
CHICAGO (AP) - Anna Martin scored 29 points, including two free throws with 19.7 seconds left, and DePaul held off a late rally by Pittsburgh.
Martin was 11 for 16 from the field for the Blue Demons (15-3, 3-1 Big East). Megan Rogowski had 15 points, all on 3-pointers, Jasmine Penny added 13 points and Brittany Hrynko had 11 for DePaul.
Abby Dowd scored 23 points to lead four players in double figures for Pitt (8-10, 0-5). Ashlee Anderson had 19 points, Brianna Kiesel 11 and Leeza Burdgess 10 as the Panthers lost their fourth straight.
Pitt rallied from a 12-point deficit and trailed 84-83 on Anderson's fast break layup with 1:47 left but couldn't sustain the rally.
SAINT MARY'S 66, NO. 23 GONZAGA 63
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Alex Carbonel scored 18 points and Saint Mary's made four free throws in the last 25 seconds end Gonzaga's West Coast Conference winning streak at 34 games.
Down eight with 1:27 to play, Gonzaga (15-3, 4-1) reeled off seven quick points before the Gaels' Danielle Mauldin made two free throws with 23 seconds left. After Katelan Redmon's basket made it 64-63 with 8.7 seconds to go, Jasmine Smith made two free throws with 8.3 remaining.
Kayla Standish missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer and Gonzaga's 10 game winning streak came to an end.
Mauldin, Smith and reserve Mogan Hatten each had 11 for Saint Mary's (14-5, 5-1), which had lost 17 straight to the Bulldogs.