UConn women’s basketball team extended its all-time NCAA record for consecutive wins to 100 in front of a sellout crowd of over 10,000 people in Storrs, Monday night. The top-ranked Huskies outlasted South Carolina, 66-55.
Fans were loud and waved white towels from the opening tip until the final whistle when $100 bills with head coach Geno Auriemma’s face pictured on them dropped from the roof of Gampel Pavilion.
Several past UConn women’s stars were there to celebrate the occasion, including Sue Bird. She led UConn to two of its 11 national championships.
"The truth is, it was the only UConn game I could make this year and I'm just glad it worked out that it was this one," Bird said. "Listen, they've obviously had some great teams as of late, but there were some great teams prior and they never got to 100 so I just don’t ever see it happening again."
The game wasn't as easy as the previous 99 victories UConn had during the streak. The Huskies won those games by an average of 39 points. The sixth-ranked South Carolina actually led for more than five minutes in the first half.
Auriemma said after the game that even though he's proud of the accomplishment, he's happy that the 100th win is over with. His bigger goal is getting the team to focus on winning an unprecedented fifth straight national championship.
"This 100 win streak isn't theirs, but if they win the national championship, that's all theirs," Auriemma said. "They carried the torch across the finish line, so to speak, to 100."
Junior Gabby Williams led all scorers with 26 points -- the most she’s ever scored in a UConn game. The Huskies haven’t lost since November 17, 2014.
