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| Katie Lou Samuelson overcame health challenges to lead the Huskies past SMU for their record-breaking 99th straight victory. |
And then there was one…
The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which has become the most dominant team in the history of women’s basketball, as very little left to prove. National titles? Been there, done that, with 11. Final fours? Nada. The Huskies have made it to an incredible 17. All-Americans? Way, way too many to mention.
But now, after destroying the Southern Methodist Stags, 83-41, on Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies do, indeed, have an historic milestone staring them in the face—the possibility of winning 100 straight games.
The Huskies, of course, already own the longest winning streak in women’s college basketball history; every game they win simply tacks on to that total. In men’s basketball, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton UCLA Bruins hold the record with 88 straight wins. In college football, the record is owned by the Oklahoma Sooners, who won 47 straight games between 1953 and 1957.
In pro football, the gap is even greater. The New England Patriots hold the record, winning 23 consecutive regular- and post-season contests between 2003 and 2004. In Major League Baseball, the longest winning streak ever recorded came in 1935 by the Chicago Cubs. (Editor’s note: the statistical information found in this, and the preceding paragraphs, were found in Wikipedia, which may not be the most reliable source in the world.)
But this afternoon, the UConn women’s basketball team found themselves on the precipice of breathing some rarified air shared by only—well, no one else, actually, unless you include a 110-game winning streak by Mount Union College, a Division III football team, according to Sports Cheat Sheet.
The last time UConn and SMU met was on Jan. 14 in Dallas. That game marked the historic 91stt-consecutive win for the Huskies, when the bested their own then-best 90-game winning streak, with an 88-48 blowout in Dallas. Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams put up double-doubles in that game, while Katie Lou Samuelson led the way with 28 points.
As is often the case, this game was over by halftime, with UConn doubling up on SMU, leading 44-22 at intermission. Indeed, this was the 23rd consecutive game that Connecticut went into the locker room leading at half. The last time the Huskies trailed after two periods was on Nov. 14, when they were down 34-30 to No. 12 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. Connecticut ended up winning that game by only two points, 78-76, largely thanks to the effort of reigning Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week Napheesa Collier, who put in a 28-point effort, and contributed a key blocked shot down the stretch to lead the UConn charge. (Editor’s note: The Huskies were ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time.)
This afternoon, Connecticut dominated from start to finish. By halftime, the Huskies led in shooting percentage (48% as opposed to 26% for the Mustangs), in three-point shooting (3-for-9, or 33.3%, while holding SMU to 1-for-12 from beyond the arc), and in turnovers (15 SMU miscues, which the Huskies converted into 19 points, as opposed to seven Husky oopsies, which the Mustangs could turn into just two points.)
Katie Lou Samuelson, Connecticut’s best player and leading scorer, has not felt 100 percent if a few weeks, and her stat-line as reflected that. The Huntington Beach, Calif. Native has been shooting just 28 percent from beyond the arc over the last five games. She also did not practice yesterday or on Thursday. But today, she brought her “A-Game” to Gampel, regardless of how she may have felt. The sophomore superstar led all scorers at intermission with 19 on 7-for-9 shooting. She also played in all 20 minutes in the first half—as did teammates Collier and Kia Nurse. For the game, Samuelson was 8-for-13 from the floor.
“She’s the only one who can make any shots,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma at halftime. “Whether she’s under the weather, besides the weather or over the weather, it doesn’t matter. Until someone else starts knocking down shots in the second half…we need someone else to step up.”
If you had just tuned in, you’d never have any idea that the Huskies were up by 22 points.
“You don't want your teammates to ever worry that if Lou's not feeling that great—what are we going to get from her?” said Samuelson, referencing her health in the third person. “I wanted to
show them that no matter what's going on, I'm still going to be able to be out there and give 100 percent and do something to contribute to the team.”
Nurse and Saniya Chong each scored 13 points, while Gabby Williams had 11 points and nine boards. The win was UConn's 126th straight against an unranked opponent (talk about winning streaks!) and its 75th in a row in the American Athletic Conference, where they have never lost a game.
SMU trailed just 9-8 early in the game before a trey by Samuelson from the top of the key started a 13-4 UConn run. Then, in the second quarter, the Huskies outscored the Mustangs by a 22-8 margin.
Good night, Irene.
Collier, meanwhile, is on an incredible run herself. In her last outing—a 96-49 Connecticut victory over Cincinnati in the Queen City—the O’Fallon, Mo., native was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, finishing with 24 points and 12 boards. Today, the reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week had 10 points and 13 boards—her ninth double-double of the season.
“It’s just incredible what [Collier] can get done in a short period of time,” said UConn head coach
Geno Auriemma after that game. “She’s incredibly efficient. She gets great shots. I obviously knew she was a great player when I recruited her in high school, but the improvement she’s made from last year to this year is absolutely remarkable. She’s playing about as well as anyone in the country at this point.”
Indeed, over the past five games, Collier has been averaging 20.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.6 blocked shots per game. Overall, she is shooting 78 percent in those contests. And, incredibly, her shooting percentage is significantly better in her last three games: 32-for-37, or 86 percent. Collier, quite literally a whirling dervish on the court, came into college with an amazing skill set—and continues to improve each and every game. On Saturday, she scored 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season.
As tempting as it may have been for a “normal” team to overlook such a non-competitive opponent with such an historic game coming up in two days, the Huskies are anything but “normal.”
“Monday didn't
exist until right now,” said Kia Nurse, who played against Auriemma in the 2016
Olympics as a member of the Canadian national team. “That's how you stay
focused.”
And then there’s Auriemma,
who does his best at every corner to downplay his team’s amazing success. Often
it amazes me how he can keep doing it with a straight face. Immediately after
the game on Saturday, he was asked about South Carolina’s chances of ending UConn’s
winning streak at 99. “Even the sand on the beach, eventually loses to the
ocean, because the ocean just keeps coming,” he said, flipping on his inner philosopher
switch.“I could be Monday. It could be next weekend. It could be the following weekend,” he continued. “We're going to lose. It's not if. It's just when.”
Auriemma, of course, is right. The Huskies will lose again. It’s just at this rate, it might not happen for the rest of this decade.
ON DECK
With the win, UConn improves to 24-0 overall, 12-0 in the Atlantic Athletic Conference. Next up, the Huskies will face their biggest test of the season when they entertain No. 6-ranked South Carolina on Monday night. The Gamecocks are 21-2 after beating Auburn 60-41 on Thursday night. Tip-off at the XL Center will be at 9 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
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