----------------------------- 
               1   2   total 
UCONN    (1)  40  48    88 
NEBRASKA (NR) 24  22    46 
----------------------------- 

Hartford, Conn. — Rachel Theriot led three Huskers in double figures with 12 points, but No. 1 UConn cruised to an 88-46 win over the Nebraska women's basketball team at the XL Center on Saturday afternoon.

Two-time national player of the year Breanna Stewart played a nearly flawless game with 25 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal to lead the 10-time NCAA champion Huskies to their third straight win to open the season.

Stewart hit her first nine shots from the floor, including a trio of three-pointers, on her way to a 10-of-11 shooting day.

Theriot, who added six assists for the Huskers, was joined in double figures for the Huskers by sophomore guard Natalie Romeo, who managed 11 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Jessica Shepard rounded out the Huskers in double digits with 10 points and five rebounds.

The Huskers came ready to play and jumped to a 7-3 lead on Theriot's floater with 7:46 left in the first quarter. UConn answered with back-to-back baskets from Morgan Tuck to tie the score, before Rachel Blackburn's three-point play put the Big Red back up 10-7 with just over five minutes left in the quarter.

Back-to-back baskets by Stewart gave UConn a 12-10 lead before the Huskers took their last lead at 13-12 on Romeo's three-pointer with 2:50 left.

UConn closed out the quarter with a 7-2 surge then scored the first five points of the second quarter to take its first double-digit lead at 24-14 with 8:54 left in the first half.

The Huskers continued to trail by 10 after back-to-back baskets by Shepard trimmed the margin to 30-20 with 4:17 left in the half. The Huskies led by as many as 18 points late in the half, before heading to to the locker room trailing 40-24 at the half.

Shepard led the Big Red with six points and five rebounds in the first half, while Theriot contributed six points and a pair of assists.

The Huskers hit just 10-of-30 shots in the first half, including 2-of-10 threes. UConn hit 53.1 percent of its first-half shots, including 3-of-10 threes. The Huskies outrebounded NU, 18-16, and won the first-half turnover battle 10-6.

UConn put any Husker hopes of an upset away with a 23-6 third quarter to take a 63-30 lead into the final quarter.

Katie Lou Samuelson, the 2015 National High School Player of the Year, added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Fellow freshman Napheesa Collier added a third Husky in double figures with 10 points off the bench.

As a team, UConn finished at 58.1 percent (36-62) from the field, including 63.3 percent in the second half. The Huskies also hit 45.5 percent (10-22) of their threes and 6-of-8 free throws. UConn outrebounded NU, 34-28, and won the turnover battle 22-13.

Nebraska hit just 34.5 percent (20-58) of its shots in the game, including just 4-of-16 three-pointers. NU hit just 2-of-3 free throws.

Nebraska returns home to open a three-game home stand on Thursday, when the Huskers take on NC State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Wolfpack is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com.