Connecticut Raises Standard, Posts 55th Consecutive Win

Connecticut made women’s basketball history Saturday at Hartford, Conn. -- then celebrated as if it won a national championship.

The No. 3 Huskies got 22 points from All-American junior Diana Taurasi and overcame a poor first-half shooting performance in a 72-49 win over Georgetown, posting their 55th straight win, surpassing the mark of 54 wins set by Louisiana Tech from 1980-82.

With 30 seconds remaining, the crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center began a standing ovation that lasted well after the final buzzer. The team gathered midcourt and received T-shirts and caps marking the milestone victory. Taurasi and teammate Jessica Moore tossed their gifts into the crowd.

“We’re the first team ever to do it,” Taurasi said. “I think it feels great and now we can put it behind us. I think we set a new standard of play.”

UConn went 39-0 and won its third national title in seven years last season. The Huskies’ last loss was on March 30, 2001, a 90-75 setback to eventual national champion Notre Dame in the NCAA semifinals.

Now that UConn has the record, the streak could end quickly. The Huskies play at No. 21 Notre Dame on Monday and travel to No. 1 Duke on Feb. 1.

UConn, 16-0 overall, 4-0 in the Big East, led from the outset Saturday, and the Hoyas (11-3, 2-2) couldn’t get closer than nine in the second half.

No. 22 Arizona 80, UCLA 61 -- Dee-Dee Wheeler scored 27 points to help Arizona (12-4, 6-2) build a 19-point halftime lead in a Pac-10 game at Tucson, Ariz. Michelle Greco had 14 points for UCLA (11-5, 6-1), which shot 27% from the field.

USC 58, Arizona State 53 -- Ebony Hoffman had 16 points, including a jumper with 1:10 remaining that gave the Trojans (7-11, 2-5) a 54-53 lead with 1:10 remaining, and she added two free throws in the closing seconds to help seal the win at Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State (11-6, 3-5) led by 16 points at halftime before the Trojans rallied, beginning with an 8-0 run to start the second half.

Pacific 74, No. 18 UC Santa Barbara 65 -- Gillian d’Hondt had 23 points and 11 rebounds to help Pacific (5-10, 2-2) win in a Big West upset at Stockton. Mia Fisher had 19 points for Santa Barbara (11-3, 4-1).

No. 6 Stanford 77, Washington 63 -- Nicole Powell had 19 points and 12 rebounds to help the Cardinal (14-1, 6-0) win a Pac-10 game at Stanford.

No. 7 Texas Tech 95, Oklahoma State 45 -- Jia Perkins scored 16 points to help Texas Tech (15-1, 4-0) win a Big 12 game at Lubbock, Texas.

No. 11 Louisiana Tech 63, Fresno St. 53 -- Amber Obaze scored 22 points to lead Louisiana Tech (12-2, 5-0) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fresno.

No. 16 Wisconsin Green Bay 61, Wisconsin Milwaukee 60 -- Kristy Loiselle scored the winning basket with three seconds left for Wisconsin-Green Bay (15-2, 6-0) in a Horizon League game at Milwaukee.

No. 19 Villanova 58, Seton Hall 52 -- Trish Juhline scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to help the Wildcats (13-2, 4-1) win a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

No. 20 Texas 70, Baylor 50 -- Heather Schreiber had 23 points and 14 to help Texas (11-4, 4-0) win a Big 12 game at Austin, Texas, and give coach Jody Conradt her 799th career victory.

Rutgers 64, No. 21 Notre Dame 61 -- Cappie Pondexter made a 12-foot jumper with 26 seconds left as Rutgers (9-4, 3-1) came back from a 15-point second-half deficit to win a Big East game at South Bend, Ind.

No. 23 Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M; 39 -- Maria Villarroel scored 21 points to help Oklahoma (11-5, 2-1) win a Big 12 game at Norman, Okla.

Syracuse 76, No. 24 Boston College 71 -- Julie McBride made nine of 10 free throws in the final 53 seconds and finished with 23 points to help Syracuse (6-10, 1-4) win a Big East game at Boston. Boston College is 11-4, 3-1.