Breanna Stewart and Connecticut took notice of the major upsets Friday night. They needed just four minutes to put to rest any fear of that happening to them.

Stewart had 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead the No. 1 Huskies to a 98-38 record rout of fifth-seeded Mississippi State on Saturday in a regional semifinal in Bridgeport, Conn.

“Crazy things happen in March,” Stewart said. “We wanted to make sure when we came out today that wasn't going to happen with us.”

It hasn't in quite some time.

The win was the 72nd straight for UConn (35-0) and left the Huskies three victories short of an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship.

Their road to that historic title got a bit easier Friday night when top seeds South Carolina and Notre Dame lost in the Sweet 16.

“It was an awakening for our players and everyone else,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “If you show up in March and don't bring your ‘A' game and your guys aren't focused and locked in and playing their best basketball, this can happen.”

The best team in the nation put together one of its most dominant games during this run, quickly quashing any thoughts of the Bulldogs pulling off the upset.

The victory supplanted the record 51-point win the Huskies had over Texas in the regional semifinals last year that set the NCAA record for margin of victory in the regional rounds and beyond.

Even Auriemma was impressed with the effort.

“I told them during one timeout — and I never do this — I said, ‘Man you guys are really good,'?” Auriemma said. “I was just caught up in it all. The timeouts on Monday might be completely different.”

UConn will face Texas in the Bridgeport regional final Monday night.

Stewart, a two-time Associated Press Player of the Year, got the game started with a 3-pointer and UConn was off and running, scoring the game's first 13 points, including 11 by Stewart and Morgan Tuck.

A basket by Mississippi State (28-8) did little to stem the tide as the Huskies scored 19 of the final 21 points of the quarter, including Moriah Jefferson's buzzer-beater.

UConn kept it going in the second quarter, converting turnovers and missed shots into easy baskets. The Huskies shredded the Mississippi State defense, which entered giving up just 54.7 points a game. UConn surpassed that mark with 1:40 left in the first half and led 61-12 at the break. The Huskies fell two points short of the NCAA record for points in a half in the regionals or later. The Bulldogs points were the second fewest for a half in an NCAA regional semifinal, one more than Texas Tech had against Rutgers in 1999.

Stewart finished the opening 20 minutes with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and UConn shot 65 percent (24-for-37) from the field.

No. 2 seed Texas 72, No. 3 seed UCLA 64: Imani Boyette scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Longhorns (31-4) to a come-from-behind win over the Bruins (26-10) in a regional semifinal in Bridgeport, Conn.

Brooke McCarty added 15 points for Texas, which will play in their first regional final since 2003.

Monique Billings scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds for UCLA. Jordin Canada also had 20 points for the Bruins.

UCLA led by 10 points in the second quarter, five points at the half and 54-48 after three quarters.

But Texas scored the first 10 points of the fourth to take a 58-54 lead and did not trail again. UCLA missed its last nine shots.

No. 1 seed Baylor 78, No. 5 seed Florida State 58: Nina Davis scored 30 points and the Bears are headed to the Elite Eight for the third straight year with a victory over the Seminoles in a regional semifinal in Dallas.

The Bears (36-1) went ahead to stay with a 15-3 run to end the first quarter after an early flurry of turnovers prompted coach Kim Mulkey to call timeout.

Alexis Jones added 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Baylor, which has a 23-game winning streak.

Leticia Romero had 11 points for Florida State (25-8), which made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances for the first time in school history.

No. 2 seed Oregon State 83, No. 6 seed DePaul 71: Jamie Weisner had career highs with 38 points and seven 3-pointers and the Beavers (31-4) advanced to their first regional final with a victory over the Blue Demons (27-9) in Dallas.

Sydney Wiese added 13 points for Oregon State, including three 3-pointers in an early three-minute span when the Beavers went ahead to stay.

Jessica January had 20 points, Jacqui Grant had 15 and Mart'e Grays 14 for DePaul, which was in its fourth Sweet 16 under 30-year coach Doug Bruno.