,”The week of upsets continued Tuesday as No. 1 Connecticut lost its first game of the season to No. 7 Rutgers, snapping the Huskies' 34-game winning streak. UConn led by nine at half, but Rutgers charged back to claim a 73-71 victory.

Even with the help of Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles, who scored 24 and 16 points, respectively, the Huskies could not overcome the more potent second-half offense of the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers' Epiphanny Prince scored 27 of her career-high 33 points in the second half.

The last UConn loss came over a year ago when it fell in Jan. 2007 to North Carolina. "We lost our composure," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma told the Associated Press. "Plain and simple, we played dumb at times."

In Tampa Bay, South Florida's Shanita Grace scored a career-high 35 points to help the Bulls take down No. 25 DePaul 78-73. The win was the second for the Bulls in the Big East this year. It was their second victory in 10 games.

Picking pink

The Big East is preparing to join the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "Think Pink" campaign, which will take place between Feb. 6-17. The initiative serves to raise cancer awareness both on the court and across campuses nationwide.

Big East universities will involve their women's basketball programs, and their fans will join together to raise funds for the cure for breast cancer. Many schools will wear pink uniforms and warmups, along with holding pink shirt giveaways. All schools are asking their fans to attend games wearing pink in support of the cause.

Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw will donate $10 for every rebound the Irish records on Feb. 10 against Pittsburgh.

Marquette is asking fans to donate for every 3-point shot the team makes against Seton Hall on Feb. 16, which will benefit the Milwaukee Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness Program and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Conference landmark

The Big East has only three non-conference games left in the composite schedule. Currently, the league's record against out-of-conference opponents is 166-40, giving the Big East a winning percentage of .806.

Regardless of the outcomes of the remaining games, the conference will finish with the best regular season win percentage in Big East history. The league has had 10 wins over Top 25 non-conference teams this season.

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