The American Athletic Conference split a pair of games on Sunday, Dec. 22. No. 1/1 UConn blitzed No. 21/20 Cal in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden and Temple was edged by Villanova in Philadelphia Big 5 action at McGonigle Hall.

The Huskies made easy work of the Golden Bears as Breanna Stewart tied her career-high with 29 points in an 80-47 victory for the Huskies. Stewart also added 10 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double.

Morgan Tuck and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis contributed 12 and 10 points off the bench, respectively. Stefanie Dolson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

UConn held a 40-28 advantage in points in the paint and outscored Cal 27-14 in bench points.

A pair of free-throws by Dolson with 9:16 remaining in the game gave the Huskies a 36-point lead at 69-33, its largest lead of the day.

Temple was nipped by Villanova, 59-58 and concluded the non-conference slate at 6-4.

The Owls got a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds from Feyonda Fitzgerald. The freshman also shot 50 percent from the field (9-for-18). Erica Covile added a career-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds.

Temple out rebounded the Wildcats 40-29 and shot 56 percent from the field (14-for-25) in the second half.

The two teams were tied 18-18 at the half and the second stanza proved to be a game of runs. The Owls used a 7-0 run to go ahead 30-23, but Villanova answered with a run of their own to take a 41-34 lead with 10:29 remaining. The two teams traded baskets over the final few minutes and Temple took the lead at 58-57 with 22 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats scored the go-ahead layout with nine seconds left.

The American is now 78-35 (.690) in non-league action. Conference play begins on Saturday, Dec. 28 with a pair of games on The American Digital Network. Houston hosts UCF at 3 p.m. ET while Rutgers travels to USF for a 7 p.m. ET matchup.