PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Epiphanny Prince was too much for top-ranked Connecticut to handle.

Scoring inside and out, Prince took over in the second half, scoring 27 of her career-high 33 points as No. 7 Rutgers handed the undefeated Huskies their first loss, 73-71 on Tuesday night.

Prince was hard-pressed to come up with a better game in her career, even with a 113-point scoring effort in high school on her resume.

“It means a lot to beat UConn,” the soft-spoken sophomore guard said. “I tried to spark us a little bit with defense.”

With her team trailing by nine, Prince scored 11 straight points in the second half to give Rutgers its first lead since early in the game.

“I don’t think her game was anything less than spectacular,” Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. “She hit tough shots all night.”

Kia Vaughn added 14 points and Matee Ajavon had 13 for Rutgers (19-3, 9-1 Big East), which snapped Connecticut’s 34-game regular season winning streak. It was Rutgers’ first victory over a top-ranked opponent during the regular season since beating LSU on Jan. 5, 2005.

Renee Montgomery scored 24 points and Tina Charles added 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Connecticut (21-1, 8-1). The Huskies, who were the last unbeaten team in Division I, last lost in the regular season to North Carolina on Jan. 15, 2007.

“We lost our composure,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “Plain and simple we played dumb at times.”

Despite losing 17 of the first 18 meetings to Connecticut, Rutgers is starting to even things out. The Scarlet Knights have taken five of the last eight meetings, including a victory in the Big East tournament championship last season.

Tied at 61 with 4:17 left, Essence Carson hit two free throws and Ajavon hit a 3-pointer to give Rutgers a 66-61 lead with 2:50 left. After Montgomery’s layup cut the deficit to three, Prince answered with a jumper.

Montgomery missed a 3-pointer on the other end and Connecticut was forced to foul Prince, who hit both free throws to give Rutgers a 70-63 lead with 1:42 left.

Connecticut refused to go away as Maya Moore hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 72-69 with 58 seconds left. After Rutgers turned the ball over on a shot clock violation, Connecticut had one last chance, but turned the ball over on the inbounds.

Carson hit one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to seal the win.

It was the first time Connecticut faced a top 10 team on the road this season

“The Giants did it so can Rutgers!” said one fan’s sign in honor of the New York Giants 17-14 upset of the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

“We played in front of big crowds before, we just couldn’t pull it out,” Moore said.

Prince, whose previous career-high was 29 against Florida last season, wouldn’t let the Scarlet Knights’ faithful go home unhappy.

“The last time I saw a crowd like this was freshman year against LSU,” Carson said. “It was loud and packed the entire time tonight. You can feel the support from the fans and they made us feel great.”

With Rutgers trailing 40-30 early in the second half, Prince took over. She scored 14 of the next 16 points for Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights went on a 16-4 run to take a 46-44 lead, their first since scoring the game’s opening four points. Prince had back-to-back three-point plays and a 3-pointer during the spurt.

“Epiphanny started making shots,” Auriemma said. “Every shot she hit was a tough shot, it wasn’t like she had any open looks.”

Rutgers is in the midst of a brutal stretch in its schedule in which it is facing four straight ranked opponents. The Scarlet Knights split with No. 12 West Virginia and No. 14 Pittsburgh. Now, after knocking off No. 1, they travel to Knoxville on Monday to face No. 2 Tennessee in a rematch of last season’s national championship game.

“We don’t have time to celebrate and relax we have Tennessee next week,” Stringer said.