“This losing stuff is getting old man, I hate it”. Those were the words uttered by University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma following the Huskies first loss in 998 days. UConn fell to Stanford 71-59 Thursday Night, marking the first time since April 6th of 2008, a string of 90 games. Who was last team to defeat the Huskies prior to last night? The Stanford Cardinal.
The 90 straight is impressive in itself, but the numbers behind the 90 really give credence to how impressive it truly was. 88 of the 90 wins were by ten or more points, and out of those 88, 54 were by 30 or more, and the average margin of victory was over 33 points per game. During the streak, five times they played the second ranked team in the nation, and all five times Connecticut won, including three times over Stanford. Over a third of the wins, 34, came against ranked teams or teams playing the NCAA tournament. The streak also included twelve consecutive wins in the tournament, six in the Big East tournament, and thirty eight straight over Big East opponents.
So how exactly did Stanford defeat a seemingly unbeatable opponent? First, they did what most NBA teams can’t grasp, played sound, aggressive defense. The Huskies couldn’t get off an uncontested shot, Maya Moore was never comfortable, and the Cardinal limited the second chance opportunities. Over the course of the streak, UConn averaged 83 points per game, only 4 times being held under 70, but Stanford played great fundamental basketball all night, and prevented them from ever getting into a scoring run. I hope every coach at every level gets a chance to watch this game, because Stanford played basketball the way it is supposed to be played. Yes, UConn may be more athletic and more talented, but on this night, Stanford wanted it more. Congratulations ladies, this is about how you wanted it, this is your day, you are fully capable of beating any team in the country if you continue to play the way you just did.
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