UConn beat South Florida 102-37 Tuesday night. That’s hardly breaking news considering the Huskies have done that all 21 times that they have faced off against the Bulls. The women are 66-0 against conference rivals since joining the American Athletic Conference back in 2013.
Late in 2010, a win streak of 90 games ended for the Huskies. It was the longest ever by an NCAA women’s team -- or men’s squad for that matter -- including John Wooden’s fabled UCLA teams from the early 1970s that won 88 straight.
Once again, the Huskies were victorious in Hartford Tuesday night, tying their record of 90 consecutive victories.
“They are amazing players and the way they just play basketball makes it look so beautiful,” said UConn senior Emmy Cooper.
Since Cooper has been a member of the UConn band, the women haven't lost once. This season, they can win an unprecedented fifth straight national championship.
Considering that the team’s top three players from last year all graduated and went 1-2-3 in the WNBA draft, this kind of success was not expected. The Huskies are now 15-0 and have seven wins against the nation’s top 25 teams -- even without Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck, who all moved on to the WNBA last year.
“You don’t always expect certain things when you come in, but to accomplish this is pretty amazing,” said Saniya Chong, who scored a game-high 20 points for the Huskies.
Since Chong, a senior, came to UConn, the team has a record of 131-1. Head coach Geno Auriemma remarked in his post-game news conference that the team’s first quarter performance was the best he had ever seen. Chong’s three-point bucket less than three minutes into the game forced USF to call timeout after the Huskies began the game on a 9-0 run.
“I don’t want to minimize it, but I think the perception is -- well of course, it’s Connecticut and the competition sucks,” said Auriemma. “You hear all of it. It’s ok.”
Auriemma’s comments were made after UConn played the game in total UConn fashion: a clean team effort. The Huskies had five players in double figures, committed just one personal foul through three quarters, and by the fourth period had assisted on 27 of 45 total baskets.
The Huskies get a chance Saturday to break their record. Win number 91 could come in Dallas versus Southern Methodist University.
