STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- A day after St. John's Latasha Thompson set a Big East scoring record with 25 points in a half, top-ranked Connecticut made sure there was no repeat performance.

First, they stole Thompson's thunder, giving the 3-point specialist few outside looks, then they stole the ball early and often. The defending conference champs lead the conference in steals and came away with an 85-41 quarterfinal win over the Red Storm, setting a Big East record with the 44-point margin of victory.

	Sue Bird and the Huskies' relentless defense left Latasha Thompson and St. John's with nowhere to go.

"There weren't a lot of areas that I thought we didn't play well," said UConn coach Geno Auriemma. "Our focus in practice has been defense oriented. I thing that got us going."

UConn used a two-minute stretch of thievery early in the first half and 70-percent shooting to put the game away.

Swin Cash and Tamika Williams had 14 points apiece for the Huskies (28-1). Kennitra Johnson had four of UConn's 15 steals.

The Huskies converted four straight steals into baskets, capped by a Sue Bird layup with 11:57 remaining in the first half for a 22-4 lead.

At one point, St. John's had seven turnovers in nine possessions. The Huskies' swarming defense kept St. John's off the scoreboard for up to six minutes at a stretch. UConn converted 25 Red Storm turnovers into 34 points.

"They're the number one team for a reason," said St. John's coach Darcel Estep. "They're very balanced and very aggressive. As a team they do a lot of things well."

UConn outscored St. John's, 52-14, in the paint and dominated the boards, 41-26. Svetlana Abrosimova led the Huskies with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Tynisha Myles and Angela Stith had 11 points each for the Red Storm (11-18).

Thompson, who had a career-high 33 in St. John's first-round win over Pittsburgh was held to a 3-pointer.

"We definitely didn't want to give her 33 points against us. It's March now, we have to play our A-game," said Shea Ralph, the conference player of the year and team steals leader with 74. She had three picks and 12 points against the Red Storm.

The margin of victory was the largest since Notre Dame beat Georgetown 83-43 in a 1997 semifinal.

UConn will play No. 4 seed Boston College on Monday. The Eagles advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1990 with a 74-52 win over Georgetown.