The No. 2-seeded Connecticut women's basketball team is going home after just the second round of the NCAA Tournament - but not as losers.

With last night's 79-56 win against No. 7 Virginia Tech at the Bryce Jordan Center, No. 2 Connecticut (31-4) danced into a Sweet Sixteen match up against No. 3 Georgia. The game will be played in Bridgeport, Conn., just 82 miles from the Huskies' Storrs campus.

Connecticut dominated early, leading 29-10 a little more than halfway through the first half, but the Hokies (21-10) fought back, cutting the lead to nine by halftime on a 16-4 run.

Led by 6-foot-3 guard Ann Strother's 22 points (6-of-13 from beyond the arc) four assists and six rebounds, the Huskies pulled away from the Hokies in the second half, never letting Virginia Tech get close. Senior forward Barbara Turner had a double-double, finishing with 18 points and 16 rebounds, while adding six assists.

Virginia Tech's senior guard Carrie Mason, a Seneca, Pa. native, scored 13 points.

Maryland, the other No. 2-seed in University Park, didn't have it quite as easy as Connecticut. Maryland fought to earn its trip to the round of 16, squeaking by No. 7 St. John's, 81-74 in a game much closer than the score indicated. The Terrapins will face No. 2 seed and defending NCAA champion Baylor this Saturday.

The Terrapins (30-4) advanced to the regional semifinal for the first time since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1994. Sophomore forward Crystal Langhorne led Maryland with 30 points and nine rebounds.

"My teammates were just giving me the ball in the right places, and the coaches also stressed getting the ball inside to me because we had a size advantage," the 6-foot-2 Langhorne said.

The Terrapins used a 7-0 run to gain a quick lead, but St. John's (22-8) proved resilient, eventually fighting back to take a 15-12 lead on a Kia Wright pull-up jumper.

The teams jockeyed for the lead through the rest of the half with Maryland taking a slim 35-34 lead into the intermission.

The second half saw much of the same as the two teams continued to trade leads. With 2:21 left, a Crystal Langhorne basket gave Maryland a 74-72 lead. Then with 53.6 second left, Langhorne grabbed a rebound and put it back in the net, giving the Terrapins a four-point cushion. Two Shay Doron free throws sealed the game for Maryland.

Wright led the Red Storm with 23 points, nine points and three steals.

"I felt we gave all that we had," Wright said. "They're big, they're strong, but that doesn't speak for what we could do against them. Our hearts are bigger. We had it in our mind that we could come out and play against them."