BATON ROUGE, La. — An LSU team with seven seniors who have never missed the Final Four had no answer for Connecticut's fabulous freshman.

Maya Moore scored 18 of her 29 points in the second half to lift top-ranked Connecticut to a 74-69 victory over No. 6 LSU last night, snapping the Lady Tigers' 14-game winning streak.

So much for any notion that Moore, making her first trip to Baton Rouge for her first game against LSU, might fall victim to nerves or inexperience.

"The shots that she can make, nobody else can make under those conditions. She never loses her composure," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. "When she gets the ball in her hands, I don't care where it is, if it's at LSU or against Stony Brook in the first game of the year, the kid has a certain presence about her that very few people have."

Moore shot 10-of-17, including two 3-pointers, and made all seven of her foul shots.

"I've never seen a freshman score like that in a hostile environment," LSU coach Van Chancellor said. "I'm disappointed that we couldn't find a way to make a defensive stop."

Sophomore center Tina Charles added 18, converting several clutch baskets inside over 6-foot-6 LSU center Sylvia Fowles.

Charles' last basket gave UConn (27-1) a 72-66 lead with a little over a minute to go.

Quianna Chaney hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game shortly after to pull LSU to 72-69. LSU (23-4) forced the Huskies into a shot clock violation, gaining a chance to tie the game on their next possession. Chaney, who finished with 22 points, rushed her next attempt and LSU was forced to foul with 6 seconds left.

Moore made them pay, hitting two free throws to put the game away.

Fowles finished with 26 points to lead LSU.

No. 2 North Carolina 85, North Carolina State 79: Erlana Larkins scored 18 points and the Tar Heels (26-2, 13-0) clinched a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference title by beating the Wolfpack (17-10, 5-7) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Indiana 69, No. 18 Ohio State 61, OT: Jamie Braun scored 19 points, including two clinching free throws with 39 seconds left in overtime, to help the Hoosiers (16-12, 9-7 Big Ten) beat the Buckeyes (20-7, 11-5) at Bloomington, Ind.

Women's AP Top 25: Marist (26-2) rode its 16-game winning streak straight into the Top 25 for the first time in school history.

The Red Foxes, who came in at No. 25, are the first team from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to be ranked since La Salle made the final poll of the 1989 season.

Connecticut (27-1) remained the top choice in The AP women's basketball poll yesterday with 39 of the 50 first-place votes. North Carolina (26-2) remained No. 2 and Tennessee (25-2) was third. Maryland (28-2) and Rutgers (22-4) switched, with the Scarlet Knights moving up to No. 4.

MEN

Men's AP Top 25: Tennessee surged to the top of The AP college basketball poll for the first time yesterday on the strength of its win over Memphis in a Nos. 1-vs.-2 matchup.

The Volunteers (25-2) were a runaway choice, receiving 69 first-place votes and 1,797 points from the 72-member national media panel after a 66-62 victory at Memphis.

Memphis (26-1) had been ranked No. 1 for the past five weeks, the last three as a unanimous choice. The Tigers were No. 2 and received 1,682 points.

North Carolina (26-2) stayed third, while UCLA (24-3) jumped from sixth to fourth after wins over Oregon State and Oregon last week. Texas (23-4) moved up two spots to fifth.

No. 5 Texas 74, Kansas State 65: D.J. Augustin had 24 points and A.J. Abrams scored all of his 13 in the second half to help Texas (24-4, 11-2 Big 12) beat the Wildcats (18-9, 8-5) at Manhattan, Kan., the Longhorns' eighth straight win.

No. 21 Marquette 85, Villanova 75: Dominic James scored 25 points, and Lazar Hayward added 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles (21-6, 11-5 Big East) over the Wildcats (17-10, 7-8) at Philadelphia.

No. 24 Gonzaga 73, Portland 51: Jeremy Pargo and David Pendergraft both had 13 points as the Zags (22-6, 11-1) overcame a sluggish first half to beat Portland (8-20, 2-10) at Portland, Ore., and remain tied for first in the West Coast Conference.

No. 25 Saint Mary's 61, San Diego 54: Tron Smith scored 15 points in his final home game, and the Gaels (24-4, 11-1 West Coast Conference) avenged their only conference loss of the season against the Toreros (16-13, 9-3) at Moraga, Calif.