The UConn Huskies went 40-0 last season en route to yet another NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship. Their overall win streak stood at 47 games. And they had a chance to flex their collective college basketball muscles on the road at Maples Pavilion against the Stanford Cardinal.
And by the time the smoke cleared on a late night in California, the No. 6 Cardinal had upset the No. 1 Huskies 88-86 to make a huge statement to begin the season.
For the Cardinal, this was a new-look team without anyone wearing a jersey with the name Ogwumike on it. Instead, the Cardinal were led by senior guard Amber Orrange who drained a game-tying 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation and a go-ahead jumper with 1:38 remaining in overtime.
For the Huskies, this wasn’t the first time one of their long winning streaks had been snapped at Maples Pavilion. In 2010, the Huskies had their NCAA-record 90-game winning streak snapped on the same court. It was the first time UConn coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies have lost since falling to Notre Dame in the 2013 Big East tournament.
After the game, Auriemma paid credit to Stanford and the remarkable team that head coach Tara VanDerveer has assembled yet again.
“We didn’t just lose to a team that doesn’t have any good players,” Auriemma. “Sometimes, because of who we are, the biggest story is that we lost, not that Stanford played great and won, and that would be unfortunate. That would be a disservice to Stanford, but that’s the reality, that’s the world that we’re in. … We lost to a really good team, a better team than people would probably give them credit for.”
After Orrange’s go-ahead bucket in overtime, Stanford (2-0) shut down UConn (1-1) defensively forcing poor shots and a 5-second violation. With the Huskies trailing by two on the final possession, the Cardinal prevented the defending national champions from getting off a shot.
After the game, Orrange talked about her three-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game.
“I was surprisingly calm when I took the shot,” Orrange said. “I really loved how resilient our team was at the beginning of the game.”
For Stanford, Lili Thompson led the way with 24 points while Orrange added 17. The new-look Cardinal have officially begun life after Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike who have moved on to the WNBA. But despite losing an incredible amount of talent, the Cardinal’s Bonnie Samuelson says the team is still geared to compete.
“I think it just shows that we’re very determined this year, we’re not just willing to be written off,” Samuelson said.
For UConn, Breanna Stewart scored 23 while Saniya Chong added 20.
After the game, Stewart admitted that the team needs to work its chemistry.
“It seemed like there was a lot of disconnect on the court,” Stewart said. “It’s up and down, our chemistry.”
Despite UConn’s 47-game winning streak being snapped, another streak continued. The Cardinal extended its home winning streak at Maples to 28 games.
No doubt these two teams will meet again this season.