The No. 2 UConn Huskies didn’t come out of the locker with magic in their shots, missing their first 10 3-point shot attempts in the first quarter on Wednesday night against Xavier.

But by the end of the night, which resulted in a 97-39 win for UConn at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., the Huskies had Allie Ziebell to thank for another huge margin of victory in the Big East.

Ziebell led UConn (22-0, 12-0) with a career-high 34 points on 10-of-14 shooting from 3-point range. She became just the fourth player in the school’s storied women’s basketball history to hit a record 10 3-point shots in a game. Her scoring was an individual team high for UConn on the season.

UConn forced 34 Xavier turnovers (10-11, 3-9) that the Huskies turned into 48 points. The Huskies stole the ball 31 times compared to just eight for the Musketeers and held them to 37.8% shooting – 15.4% from long distance.

Following that rough shooting patch in the first quarter, the Huskies hit 15 of 24 3-point attempts the rest of the game, ending with a 44.1% average.

UConn played shorthanded, with starter Serah Williams (ankle) and super freshman Blanca Quinonez (shoulder) out and on a game-by-game basis.

Sarah Strong put the game in her hands early, scoring 12 of her 25 points in the first quarter before Ziebell went on her scoring binge.

The Huskies sprung to life in the second quarter after leading by a mediocre 22-7 score to end the first period. In the subsequent three quarters, the Huskies limited Xavier to single digits – seven, seven and eight, respectively, thanks to an out-of-this-world defense.

The Huskies had several key contributors. Ashlynn Shade handed out a career-high nine assists and added six rebounds and six assists. Kayeigh Heckel dished out eight assists and had eight rebounds. And Jena El Alfy made her first start of the season, in place of Williams, and had six of UConn’s 32 rebounds.

For Xavier, Mariyah Noel scored a team-high 11 points and registered eight rebounds. Meri Kanerva added 11 points, and Savannah White had a team-best nine rebounds.

UConn played an early season Big East conference game against Xavier in Cincinnati that was a sign of things to come for the No. 1 Huskies in league play.

They beat the Musketeers 104-39 on Nov. 20 and with another win over Xavier on Wednesday in Storrs, Conn, the Huskies now have won 59 consecutive league games, including postseason games.

Their margin of victory over Xavier: 65 points and 58 points – an average of 61.5

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