Jessie predicted it, and I should never have doubted her: UConn didn't just defeat Rutgers-- rather, UConn made Rutgers disappear, turning a 15-0 first-half run into a second-half annihilation.

Each side shut down the other's low post game, but UConn's guards responded: Montgomery 7-11 overall, and Thomas-- whom one might think Rutgers' athletes would shut down-- 4-5 from three-point range.

RU, on the other hand, shot 29%. "There was nothing we could do," admitted coach Stringer.

Before the match, Geno called Rutgers fans "miserable": if they weren't yesterday, they might be now-- many left before game's end.

Montgomery herself was surprised by the ease of the win: "I thought this was going to go down to the buzzer," she said.

UPDATE: UConn had already clinched first place in the Big East; Rutgers' loss, along with the other seven scores from last night's Big East games, fixes the bracket for the conference tournament, which begins play Saturday in Hartford.

Of special note among the seven: bubble team West Virginia surprised ranked Louisville in OT; South Florida took out Seton Hall in Tampa.