STORRS As the meteorologists have been saying the past few days, the world can be a cold place to work and play.

They are correct. And sometimes, even the air temperature can be unbearable.

The point is, Houston, in last place in the American Athletic Conference, came to Gampel Pavilion in need of a warm hug.

Their head coach, Todd Buchanan, left in the midst of his eighth season and he did it just before Christmas. Not the best way to build confidence for the future.

Instead, the Cougars felt the biting wind of the nation's No. 1 team during a 90-40 loss before a crowd of 6,257.

Houston (4-11, 0-4) has not won since Buchanan left. That's its cold reality. The Cougars were led by Alecia Smith (11 points).

"We have struggled to play well in the last few games to play really well," said Breanna Stewart, who led the Huskies with 24 points. "During yesterday's practice and this morning's shootaround the big key was fixing that."

The Huskies are as hot as the tropics. And they played like it again against a badly undermanned opponent.

UConn had 17 blocked shots, a program-high and two short of a tying a national record. And it now has won 22 straight dating to last year's NCAA Tournament.

"I have no idea how we do that [block shots]," Stefanie Dolson said, responsible for a career-high seven of them. "We're really big?"

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Red-Hot UConn Women Leave Houston Out In The Cold