Huskies Rebound, Stop USF, Remain Unbeaten in AAC Play

The Huskies trailed by four at half time, but rallied to stop USF to remain
undefeated in ACC play. That's forever we're talking about. Olivia
Nelson-Ododa (20) popped in 20 for UConn.

By Bob Phillips

TAMPA—Behind a combined 41 points from Megan Walker (21) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (20) the University of Connecticut Huskies overcame a sluggish start and stopped the University of South Florida Bulls, 67-47, before 6,044 fans at Yuengling Center on Sunday.

With the win, the Huskies improved to 21-3 overall and 11-0 in the American Athletic Conference. It also allowed No. 5 Connecticut to maintain its perfect record, 131-0, all time in ACC play (including regular- and post-season play. It was also the Huskies’ 205th consecutive victory over a non-ranked opponent. Perfection, however, is hardly the word that comes to mind when describing the first half play for the Huskies, who entered the locker room trailing by four points at halftime.

The Huskies (21-3, 11-0) trailed by four at halftime, took the lead for good early in the third quarter and broke the game open by beginning the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run and holding USF (15-10, 7-4) to one field goal during a nine-minute stretch. Aubrey Griffin scoree eight points and grabbed seven rebounds of the bench, and lead the Husky D with five steals.

In improving to 131-0 all-time in ACC play (regular season and postseason championship tournaments) since the inception of the conference, UConn rebounded from an 18-point loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Monday. The Huskies have never lost to USF, and history was also on Connecticut’s side. The Huskies have not lost two straight games since 1993.

UConn rebounded from a miserable shooting night against South Carolina (36.1 percent) to shoot nearly 50 percent (48.3 percent) vs. the Bulls, despite missing 11 of 15 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies now return home to the Nutmeg State to host Tulane on Wednesday at the XL Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on SNY and streamed on ESPN3.

—Staff Reports

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