The intensity, speed and the will to win all belonged to the Villanova Wildcats Wednesday night in a 72-69 victory over the UConn Huskies, handing the women’s team its first conference loss in nine years.
The Huskies hadn’t lost a regular-season conference game since March 2013, a record 145 games. Counting tournament games, the streak totaled 169 wins.
UConn got off to a slow start in Hartford and lacked defensive punch, which showed up in the post, where the Huskies were outrebounded 37-21.
“I don’t think we did anything to deserve to win that game. They did everything to deserve that game,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “They played harder than us, they played smarter than us. They beat us to every loose ball, they rebounded better than us. They made more shots than us.
“You don’t win games just because you show up; you have to go out and actually win the game, and today Villanova came here and won the game,” Auriemma said.
Not having senior forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa for the first game all season left the gate open for a consistent Villanova attack, in which it seemed almost everything went the Wildcats' way. For a short time it felt as if they were raining 3’s. The Huskies’ offense appeared out of sync and didn’t play with the cohesion or intensity they’ve shown to be capable of.
UConn didn’t come alive until the fourth quarter, when the Huskies tried to rally from 16 points down with six minutes to go. They got within three at the end, but after a missed free throw by the Wildcats, Christyn Williams couldn’t get a shot off at the last second for a chance to tie the game.
Williams still ended up with 24 points, and guard Azzi Fudd put up 29, but there was little help for the pair. With a lack of execution by the offense and a deficit that reached 19 points — UConn gave up 11 points off turnovers alone — the Huskies couldn’t hold Villanova to a low score.
