Mohegan - Asked whether it was merely a typical performance by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis which netted her the Most Outstanding Player award following Monday's American Athletic Conference championship game or a little bit more than typical, perhaps, UConn coach Geno Auriemma pointed to the stat sheet.

"One of the important things I thought came out of it was, K had 23 points and only made one 3," Auriemma said. "Usually when K scores a lot of points, it's four or five 3s and not as many others. Today, she made herself hard to guard because she was scoring from all over the court."

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists, playing all but the final 22.5 seconds in top-seeded UConn's 84-70 victory over No. 2 South Florida.

Breanna Stewart added 22 points and 12 rebounds and Morgan Tuck 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies (32-1), who have never lost an AAC game during the regular season or postseason since joining prior to the 2013-14 season.

South Florida, however, a former Big East opponent of UConn's playing in its first league final in program history, did become the first AAC team to lose to the Huskies by fewer than 20 during that span.

It was during a second-half rally when South Florida cut the score, gasp, to 16 (keeping in mind that UConn defeated No. 9 Cincinnati by 59 in the quarterfinals and No. 5 East Carolina by 50 in the semifinals). That caused the crowd of 6,499 at Mohegan Sun Arena to hiss at the referees for calling a foul on Moriah Jefferson.

A senior who appeared most comfortable with the ball, directing traffic for the Huskies, Mosqueda-Lewis then hit the next two baskets, once connecting on a medium-range jumper and once posting up and drawing a foul, hitting both free throws to push the lead back to 72-52.

Stewart, Tuck and Jefferson (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) joined Mosqueda-Lewis on the all-tournament team, as did South Florida's Courtney Williams (16 points) and Alisia Jenkins (10 points, 4 blocks, 4 steals).

South Florida's only two losses since Feb. 18 have come against UConn. The Bulls are 26-7 overall, with three losses in all to the Huskies this season.

"I've always been a fighter my whole life," South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said of the personality of his team, which will attempt to get to this year's Final Four being held in its home town of Tampa. "We've got a lot of fighters in that locker room. It's great to come in and coach kids with passion.

"This team hasn't gotten the national attention from the media, but in the last seven days I think these basketball players have proven they can play with anyone in the country."

Mosqueda-Lewis, meanwhile, led UConn in scoring in all three games it played in the AAC tournament, averaging 20.6 points per game on 25-for-43 shooting with 10 3-pointers. A first team all-conference pick, Mosqueda-Lewis now has 381 career 3-pointers, eighth in NCAA history, and needs just 11 in the NCAA tournament to match the Division I record of 392.

"We tried to get K in every situation possible today and wherever we put her, she came through," Auriemma said.

"Kaleena means a lot," UConn's Stewart, the Most Outstanding Player in last year's AAC tournament, said. "Sometimes people underestimate her talents and it shouldn't be that at all. As you saw tonight, she got whatever she wanted."

UConn led South Florida 46-23 at halftime behind 13 points from Mosqueda-Lewis, including her lone 3-pointer, which came just 26 seconds into the game.

South Florida outscored the Huskies 47-38 in the second half, though, shooting 53.3 percent.

In general, Auriemma said Monday that there's a different "vibe" about his UConn teams in March, perhaps resulting in the Huskies' 20th league championship and what has been nine national championships so far.

"There's a certain excitement that maybe isn't there in February," Auriemma said. "… If you stay the same as you were in the regular season, you're not going anywhere."

V.FULKERSON@THEDAY.COM

TWITTER: @VICKIEATTHEDAY