Storrs — All UConn needed, apparently, was a day to figure things out and some incentive.

The No. 8 Huskies did everything they do best Friday night — with a dizzying number of cuts to the basket that resulted in 62 points in the paint, layup after layup after layup — in an 84-60 Big East Conference victory over DePaul that took them from the pits back to the top of women's basketball's Mount Everest.

Graduate forward Dorka Juhasz had a season-high 22 points with eight rebounds to lead UConn in the bounce-back win, which followed an unexpected 72-69 loss Wednesday to Villanova and came despite missing 6-foot-5 senior forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa (groin) and freshman Caroline Ducharme (head) once again due to injuries.

"We just came to practice yesterday and all we talked about was how bad our effort was (Wednesday) night and how Villanova outplayed us in every phase of the game ... every, every," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "From coaching down to the managers, they were better than us at everything. We just needed to turn that around."

"Just watching that (Villanova) game back, it's pain," Juhasz said. "Everybody took that really personal. The video, the game is not lying. So watching it back it's like, 'Wow, we let them get in rhythm and get shots they were really comfortable with and that's not us.' We were lacking energy and rebounding and everything. I think the next day is always good; everybody's a little (ticked) off."

Christyn Williams added 20 points, Aaliyah Edwards 19 and Evina Westbrook 10 for UConn and Westbrook and Nika Muhl each had five assists. Freshman Aneesah Morrow had 20 points and 16 rebounds for DePaul (19-7, 11-4), which came into the game leading the nation in scoring with 90.2 points per game.

That extended UConn's streak without back-to-back losses to an astounding 1,044 consecutive games, dating back to 1993, and kept the Huskies on top in the Big East standings with a two-game lead over Villanova.

UConn is 16-5 overall, 10-1 in the Big East, while Villanova moved to 17-6 overall, 11-3 in the league with a 74-63 overtime win Friday over Marquette.

UConn, which won its previous game this season against DePaul 80-78, necessitating a game-winning drive from Ducharme with 1.6 seconds remaining, needed no such dramatic ending this time. 

The Huskies led 25-16 after one quarter, outshooting DePaul 63.2-28.6%, and 42-29 at halftime. Juhasz had 13 points and Edwards, her fellow forward, 10 points at the half, an area in which UConn struggled mightily without Nelson-Ododa in the loss to Villanova.

This time, UConn outrebounded DePaul 47-37 and constantly exploited a mismatch with DePaul in the post, as the Blue Demons' tallest starter is 6-foot-1.

"We're small. There's no question about the fact we're small," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. "You have to go inside. Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you attack?

"UConn is a better team than they played Wednesday night against Villanova. We got that tonight. Our goal tonight was to make history and we didn't do a good job of that. (UConn) is a tough team to beat before a loss; when they get beat and it gets their attention, they're even more difficult to beat."

DePaul last led 5-4 on a pair of free throws by Deja Church, at which point UConn reeled off eight straight points for a 12-5 lead, at which point all of the Huskies' starters had scored and the Blue Demons were shooting 1-for-9, 1-for-7 from 3-point range.

Juhasz started the second quarter with a three-point play. DePaul came within six on a three-point play by Morrow and a reverse layup from Church, making it 32-26, but that sparked another run for the Huskies, who responded with 10 straight.

Juhasz started that sequence with a 3-pointer, Westbrook drove and drew a foul followed by a fast break basket by Westbrook off a steal from Williams and Juhasz capped it with another 3, assisted by Muhl.

Williams fired things up with 10 points in the third quarter and Edwards added nine, including a three-point play, to push the UConn lead to 69-49. And the Huskies kept their foot on the gas, scoring on a steal and a layup by Westbrook with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter for a 75-51 lead.

"Guys take losing really hard at Connecticut," Auriemma said of the Huskies' knack of following a loss with a win over the last 29 years. "I hope that never goes away."

"It was probably one of our best team wins," Juhasz said. "It felt really good."

UConn, which has six games remaining in Big East regular season play, next travels to Marquette for a 2:30 p.m. game Sunday (Ch. 61). The Huskies have had eight of their 12 players miss at least one game due to injuries or illness this season, leading to nine different starting lineups.

v.fulkerson@theday.com