UConn secures title; Williams puts in 16

OMAHA, Neb. — Geno Auriemma doesn’t profess to be hip, so even he wasn’t exactly sure what he meant when he disclosed his new term of endearment for Nika Muhl.

“She’s my slime, man. What can I tell you?” the Connecticut coach said. “They tell me that’s the ultimate, so that’s her. Nika is my slime.”

Yes, a check of the urban dictionary reveals that to be slime is a good thing. Muhl just laughed when told what her coach called her.

As far as Auriemma was concerned, the freshman from Croatia merited plaudits for the way she took control of both ends of the court early in the Huskies’ 81-49 victory Thursday night.

Muhl scored 15 of her season-high 19 points and made three of her five steals in the first quarter as the top-ranked Huskies won the outright Big East regular-season championship.

Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) had 16 points for the Huskies (19-1, 16-0), who never lost a league game in their seven years in the American Athletic Conference, and now they’re two wins away from being perfect in their return to the Big East.

“When you’re in a conference, you try to win the conference,” Auriemma said. “All those years in various versions of the Big East, the last seven years in the AAC and now back in the Big East, that’s always goal No. 1. That’s the thing players will respond to because it proves you’re the best team among the peers you compete against every day.”

Temi Carda had a season-high 24 points and eight rebounds for Creighton (7-10, 6-7), which matched its most lopsided home loss under 19th-year coach Jim Flanery.

Creighton scored the first basket of the game for a lead that lasted all of six seconds. Muhl then fueled a 22-4 run for the Huskies, making 3 three-pointers while scoring 11 of her team’s first 16 points.

Muhl entered the game 3 of her last 17 on three-pointers and was shooting 26% from distance in conference play.

“I was building my confidence a lot in practice the past few days and they were leaving me quite wide open at the beginning of the game,” Muhl said, “so I just took the shots and they went in.”

In other women’s Top 25 games Thursday, Raina Perez scored 14 points and second-ranked North Carolina State (162, 11-2 ACC) was sharp from outside to beat Pittsburgh (5-12, 3-11) 83-53 in Raleigh, N.C. … Jordan Nixon and Kayla Wells each scored 16 points and No. 3

Texas A&M (21-1, 12-1) won its ninth consecutive game, beating Alabama (157, 8-7) 73-67 on in Tuscaloosa, Ala. … Zia Cooke scored 17 points and No. 5 South

Carolina (19-3, 14-1) won its 13th game in a row against Mississippi (9-10, 3-10), a 68-43 victory in Columbia, S.C. … Angel Reese scored 17 points and Diamond Miller added 16 as No. 8 Maryland (18-2, 14-1) moved one game closer to a third consecutive Big Ten regular-season title with an 88-59 rout of Purdue (6-14, 3-13) in West Lafayette, Ind. … Rhyne Howard scored 27 points, hitting all four of her three-pointers, and No. 19 Kentucky (166, 9-5) defeated No. 17 Georgia (17-5, 9-5) 62-58 in Athens, Ga. … Rennia Davis scored all 26 of her points in the second half, with 20 in the fourth quarter, to help No. 20 Tennessee (14-6, 8-4 SEC) beat

Missouri (8-10, 4-9) 78-73 in Columbia,

Mo.

In another game involving SEC teams, Aliyah Matharu scored 19 points as Mississippi State (10-7, 5-6) rallied to defeat LSU (8-12, 6-8) 68-59 in Baton Rouge.