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Fact: The University of Connecticut women's basketball team lost to Mississippi State 66-64 on Friday, snapping their 111-game winning streak, which is the longest streak in D-I basketball history.
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The No. 1-seeded Connecticut Huskies' run of dominance has come to an end at 111 games with a stunning 66-64 overtime loss to the No. 2-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs on a last-second buzzer-beater by Morgan William in the Final Four of the 2017 NCAA women's tournament on Friday.
This marks the first loss for UConn since November 17, 2014, against Stanford and will be the first time since 2012 the Huskies will not win the national championship.
Mississippi State's upset win comes in the program's first Final Four appearance. The Bulldogs advance to Sunday's national championship game against South Carolina, which will begin at 6 p.m. ET at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
This was a different kind of game right from the start. Mississippi State was the aggressor, dictating the pace and jumping out to a 29-13 lead early in the second quarter.
Per Will Sammon of the Clarion Ledger, the Huskies' large deficit was something they have not dealt with all season:
Connecticut cut down the lead to five after a 13-2 run, but the Bulldogs responded before halftime to take an eight-point advantage into the intermission.
Per ESPN Women's Hoops, one reason for Mississippi State's dominance came in the paint and on the glass:
In December, Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma spoke about his team and how it was succeeding despite having several weaknesses, per Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant:
We hide our warts, we hide our faults. As well if not better than anybody in the country. The fact that people can't see them and they're already saying we're going to win the national championship or win 120 in a row, means we're doing a really good job of hiding them. And I like that.
Size was one of those weaknesses. Napheesa Collier, who is listed at 6'1", was the Huskies' leading rebounder during the season. Mississippi State exposed that throughout this game, out-rebounding Connecticut 38-31, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Connecticut was able to succeed during the season and through its first four tournament games on three-point shooting. The Huskies led college basketball with a 40.4 percent success rate from beyond the arc, per NCAA.com.
UConn fared well behind the three-point line in this game, going 7-of-15, but Mississippi State overpowered it inside. The Huskies had a chance to win in overtime, holding the ball with the shot clock off, but Saniya Chong turned the rock over with 14 seconds to play.
William, who just scored 41 points against Baylor in the Elite Eight, hit the biggest shot in Mississippi State women's basketball history to stun the world.
Now, the Bulldogs are now one win away from immortality after making history.
This Connecticut team didn't start the year ranked first in the Associated Press Top 25 and had some close calls along the way. The gas tank finally ran out at the worst possible time, ensuring there will be a new champion for the first time in five years.
The Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team's quest for perfection has two more hurdles to clear if it is to cut down the nets for the fifth consecutive season. The women's Final Four is set to go down on Friday night with an opportunity to play for the national championship on Sunday.
The Huskies will meet No. 2 seed Mississippi State in the semifinal matchup, but before that, the No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks will take on another No. 2 seed in the Stanford Cardinal.
The tournament has already seen some powerhouse programs eliminated. Thirty-plus-win teams Notre Dame, Maryland and Baylor saw early an early demise. Now Connecticut and South Carolina will look to avoid upset bids from the Bulldogs and Cardinal, respectively.
Here's a quick look at the information you need to know for the remaining games in the tournament along with a breakdown and prediction for each of the Final Four games.
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Stanford | ESPN2 |
| March 31 | 10 p.m. | No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 2 Mississippi State | ESPN2 |
| April 2 | 6 p.m. | Championship game | ESPN |
South Carolina vs. Stanford
The opening game of the Final Four figures to be a barnburner. South Carolina has been one of the top teams all season, while the Cardinal struggled during the regular season to fine-tune their game and win 12 of their last 13 contests to get here.
South Carolina had its own set of doubts, though. The Gamecocks lost senior center Alaina Coates in the SEC tournament, which cast doubt on their ability to wind up in Dallas.
Instead of getting bounced from the tournament, star forward A'ja Wilson stepped into an even bigger role and kept things rolling for South Carolina.
"I'm super proud to watch her leadership," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Wilson's efforts without Coates, per Mechelle Voepel of espnW.com. "When teams are dealt any type of adversity, people step up. People fill a void. Although A'ja was our leader before Alaina's injury, she's taken it to another level."
The battle on the blocks will be an important one in this game. Wilson was one of the top players in the nation this year with 17.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game, but the Cardinal believe that forward Erica McCall can hold her own in the paint.
The senior leads Stanford in scoring at 14.4 points per game and must have a good performance on both ends of the floor to give the Cardinal a chance.
While the loss of Coates might not be ideal on paper, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer believes it has allowed South Carolina to play a more open style, per Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated:
They went from basically a two-post team to a four-around-one team. They're more athletic, they spread the floor a little bit more. I think they do a lot of things really well. They have an elite player in A'ja Wilson. They get her the ball. She is a big presence down low. They run well. You have a low block presence, a great rebounding team, you have people that are moving the ball. They're fantastic one-on-one players. I think you're going to be challenged defensively, you're going to be challenged offensively because they're athletic and long. You have to rebound the ball.
The Gamecocks have had some close encounters in their tournament run, and this could be another one. They had to stave off a late run from Florida State in the Elite Eight and only beat No. 8 seed Arizona State by three in a game where freshman forward Sophie Brunner put up 20 points and nine rebounds.
Stanford has also had some close calls on its journey to Dallas. The Cardinal rallied to beat No. 1 seed Notre Dame by one point and only had a five-point lead at the end of the third quarter against Texas in what turned out to be an 11-point win.
Stanford's balance could be key here, as the team doesn't depend on any one star player to get it going and can score from inside and out. Guarding Wilson is going to be a challenge, but the team is athletic enough to throw multiple defenders at her and force some turnovers.
Prediction: Stanford 72, South Carolina 68
UConn vs. Mississippi State
What is there to say about a program that has won 111 straight games?
The Huskies are obviously the favorite against Mississippi State, and it isn't hard to see why. The powerhouse program is simply a juggernaut offensively. It leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.99), field-goal percentage (52.9) and three-point percentage (40.4).
The Huskies showcased their dominance in punching their ticket to the Final Four with a 90-52 win over Oregon. But the margin of victory shouldn't come as a surprise; as ESPN Stats & Info highlighted, this is simply what the Huskies do.
Geno Auriemma's squad looks to drown opponents in offense, forcing other teams to play catch-up—and it works brilliantly.
Mississippi State, who only allowed 57.2 points per game all season, has taken a more offensive approach in the tourney. While it might be wise to try to slow the pace to this one, that's not the approach it sounds like head coach Vic Schaefer will take, per Deitsch:
I think one thing we've got to do is we got to score. I mean, it's not going to be a 50–48 game. That's where we've been different in the last two and a half weeks. We've kind of maybe not focused so much on trying to hold everybody scoreless We focus more on, O.K., here is how we can attack and score a little bit. If you look at our scores in the NCAA tournament, we've been able to score some points. I think that's what's different about our team right now.
That seems like a scary approach, as trading baskets with the most powerful offense in the sport isn't a great idea.
Led by guards Napheesa Collier (20.6 points per game) and Katie Lou Samuelson (20.3), there's not a team with the kind of firepower that the Huskies bring to the table.
Expect the Huskies to push the kind of pace they'd like to play at and watch the Bulldogs struggle to keep up.
Make it 112.
Prediction: UConn 85, Mississippi State 65
Championship Matchup: UConn vs. Stanford
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The bracket for the 2017 NCAA women's basketball tournament was released Monday, and there is one question that looms over the entire field: Can anyone beat the Connecticut Huskies?
While March Madness on the men's side is defined by bracket-busting upsets, the women's game has developed into a one-team show. Connecticut has won the past four national championships and six of the last eight, all with Geno Auriemma leading the way as one of the most accomplished coaches in sports history.
The Huskies went a perfect 32-0 this season and haven't lost since an overtime clash with Stanford on Nov. 17, 2014. Their 66-55 victory over South Carolina on Feb. 13 marked their 100th straight victory.
Connecticut and the rest of the nation now has the roadmap to a title with Monday's bracket release, but it looks more like step-by-step directions for the unstoppable Huskies machine. With that in mind, here is a look at the full bracket, as well as a national-title pick.
Bracket and Seeds
| Seed | Bridgeport Region | Lexington Region | Oklahoma City Region | Stockton Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | Notre Dame | Baylor | South Carolina |
| 2 | Duke | Stanford | Mississippi State | Oregon State |
| 3 | Maryland | Texas | Washington | Florida State |
| 4 | UCLA | Kentucky | Louisville | Miami |
| 5 | Texas A&M | Ohio State | Tennessee | Marquette |
| 6 | West Virginia | North Carolina State | Oklahoma | Missouri |
| 7 | Temple | Kansas State | DePaul | Creighton |
| 8 | Syracuse | Green Bay | LSU | Arizona State |
| 9 | Iowa State | Purdue | California | Michigan State |
| 10 | Oregon | Drake | Northern Iowa | Toledo |
| 11 | Elon | Auburn | Gonzaga | South Florida |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | Western Kentucky | Dayton | Quinnipiac |
| 13 | Boise State | Belmont | Chattanooga | Florida Gulf Coast |
| 14 | Bucknell | Central Arkansas | Montana State | Western Illinois |
| 15 | Hampton | New Mexico State | Troy | Long Beach State |
| 16 | Albany | Robert Morris | Texas Southern | UNC Asheville |
A full bracket can be found on ESPN.com.
National Championship Pick: Connecticut Huskies
There will be no bold predictions here—Connecticut is the best team and will play accordingly during the tournament, capturing its fifth national title in the process.
The Huskies are not only more talented than everyone else, they are battle tested after playing a daunting schedule this season. They squared off with South Carolina, Florida State, Baylor, DePaul, Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Maryland, South Florida and Temple, and prevailed against all of them.
In fact, Connecticut won every game but three by double digits, and those three single-digit affairs came on the road against Florida State, Maryland and Tulane. It won't step into any hostile environments during the NCAA tournament.
What's more, this is a program that receives the opponent's best shot on a nightly basis, so the magnified importance of every possession will not be a new phenomenon as it is for some teams in March.
The Huskies also have Auriemma on the sidelines, and he won't be intimidated by the bright lights.
Howard Megdal of CBS Sports noted he has 23 regular-season conference championships, 11 national championships, a 90-game winning streak and the current 107-game winning streak on his impeccable resume.
That is how to earn the respect of NBA legends such as Kobe Bryant:
Someone as accomplished as Auriemma grasps the importance of these tournament games and understands how to prepare his team. He explained how they overshadow everything else in the sport, per Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant.
"March comes around and everybody goes, 'You know, you were the best team in the country,'" Auriemma said. "And you stand up and you feel pretty good about yourself. … And then they say, well now we're going to give you three weekends to prove it. What about the last five months? They don't mean a thing."
It is now time for him to help shape the legacies of his current group under that pressure after losing leaders Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck from last season's team.
One way the Huskies will do that is by continuing to employ a balanced offensive attack that makes it nearly impossible for opponents to lock in on one player. According to the team's official website, Katie Lou Samuelson (21.0), Napheesa Collier (20.2), Gabby Williams (13.2) and Kia Nurse (12.2) all average double-digit scoring totals per game.
Samuelson, Collier and Nurse all shoot better than 40 percent from three-point range and can take advantage of openings when opponents collapse elsewhere.
Collier (8.9 rebounds per game) and Williams (8.4 rebounds per game) control the boards as well, which gives the team additional opportunities to unleash that lethal offense.
This is a group that has already beaten the best teams the sport has to offer. It also doesn't rely on one single player to score or rebound—meaning it can afford an off night from someone in this single-elimination tournament—and has arguably the best coach in men's or women's college basketball history leading the way.
That is a formula for another championship.
Fact: Connecticut beat South Carolina 66-55 on Monday night, extending its winning streak to 100 games. It is the first 100-game winning streak in NCAA basketball history.
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A 100-game winning streak is not supposed to happen in any sport at any time.
After all, there are salary caps, scholarship limits and parity-inducing draft orders in place to check such power, and that's not even accounting for random factors such as luck and poor performances on any given day.
That's what makes the Connecticut Huskies' 100th straight win—which they notched Monday with a 66-55 victory over South Carolina—downright incredible. Injuries, strong opponents and even the graduation of superstar Breanna Stewart have not slowed them down, and a fifth straight national title seems like an inevitable conclusion to this ride.
Connecticut's last lost came in overtime against Stanford on Nov. 17, 2014, back when the Chicago Cubs were still cursed by a goat, LeBron James had never won a title in Cleveland and Deflategate hadn't entered the lexicon for sports fans.
This streak started shortly after that on Nov. 23, 2014 with a straightforward 96-60 win over Creighton.
It reached the century mark Monday against a South Carolina team that was far from a pushover. The Gamecocks entered the contest with a sparkling 21-2 record and victories over Ohio State, Louisville, Texas, UCLA, Mississippi State and Kentucky, among others.
The Gamecocks were down only six at the half, but Gabby Williams proved too much. She poured in 26 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out four assists and tallied four steals in a stat-sheet stuffing effort. Napheesa Collier added 18 points and nine boards in the win.
This streak reached a record 91 games when the Huskies handled SMU on Jan. 14, 88-48. As if that wasn't an impressive enough mark, the previous record of 90 straight wins was also set by head coach Geno Auriemma's Huskies from 2008 to 2010.
ESPN College BBall and ESPN Stats & Info added context by comparing the accomplishment to other sports:
UConn's quest for 100 straight wins concludes tonight vs. No. 6 South Carolina on ESPN2.
— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 13, 2017
How does this historic run fare vs. other streaks? pic.twitter.com/cK6c6EubES
According to Anthony Chiusano of NCAA.com, Connecticut had 27 wins over ranked teams and nine wins over top-five opponents during the streak coming into Monday's game. What's more, a mere two of the wins came by single digits, with blowouts far more common, as ESPN Stats & Info illustrated:
Connecticut hasn't lost a conference game since the American Athletic Conference was formed in 2013-14.
The current streak is just another accomplishment for Auriemma. He has been named the Associated Press Coach of the Year eight times, and his bio on UConn's official website credits him with 11 national titles, 17 Final Fours, 43 conference titles and six perfect seasons.
Former Duke and NBA player Jay Williams—who played for Mike Krzyzewski as a Blue Devil—and former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant—who played for Phil Jackson—didn't hold back their praise of Auriemma:
The Huskies now have four more games remaining in the regular season, all against the AAC.
A 104-game winning streak come conference tournament time seems more likely than not, and Connecticut will then turn its attention toward a fifth straight title with a balanced attack featuring Williams, Katie Lou Samuelson, Collier and Kia Nurse.
The Huskies are talented, red-hot and battle-tested from a difficult schedule that features notable wins over Florida State, Baylor, DePaul, Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Maryland and now South Carolina.
There is no reason to think they won't be adding a 12th championship to Auriemma's unassailable resume.
Connecticut wasn't satisfied with leading SMU by 24 points at the end of the first quarter, 26 at the end of the half, 35 at the end of the third Saturday afternoon. UConn refused to give an inch until the final buzzer sounded.
With the 88-48 win, the top-ranked women’s basketball team ascended into hoops immortality. The 11-time national champion Huskies won their 91st straight game, setting the longest streak for consecutive wins in NCAA Division I history for men or women.
But Connecticut has been here before.
Having topped John Wooden’s legendary UCLA streak of 88 consecutive wins (1971-74) when it won 90 straight (2008-10), the Huskies have outdone themselves.
"So many things that have happened at UConn are just beyond anybody's expectations, beyond anybody's imagination," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said on the SportsNet New York broadcast after the historic win. "It's almost like it's a fairy tale. It's the kind of thing you can't ever plan for or anticipate."
How could two completely different Huskies teams achieve the improbable in just over six years?
"That’s definitely something [Auriemma] instills in us while we’re there: never be satisfied with what you’re doing," Atlanta Dream guard Tiffany Hayes, who helped UConn set the 2008-10 record, told Bleacher Report.
"Even if you’re having a good practice, you can always have a great one," Hayes said. "His thing was, you can’t be perfect, but if you’re chasing perfection, you can catch excellence."
Attack, attack, attack
Gabby Williams swatted a shot. The ball landed in the hands of Kia Nurse, who blazed upcourt and dished to Katie Lou Samuelson in the post, who then whipped a one-handed pass to Williams at the rim for the and-1 layup.
Up by 14 in the first quarter against No. 20 South Florida on Tuesday, the Huskies drew more blood. On the next play, Napheesa Collier intercepted a pass, dove on the floor to retrieve the ball and threw it ahead to Saniya Chong on the break. Chong dropped the ball to Samuelson for a layup in what would become a 102-37 massacre.
This is how the Huskies, who tied their previous streak of 90 that night, squeeze the soul of teams: There is no letup between possessions, between games, between seasons. They sink their teeth in from the tip until the final buzzer, a constant clench whereby dominance is a commitment rather than an aspiration.
"Incredible," Marques Johnson, member of UCLA’s 88-game record-setting team, told Bleacher Report, referring to UConn’s streak. "They have this attitude, this kind of attack, aggressive kind of attitude. It’s more like, 'I’m coming at you. I’m coming at you. Every time we get it, we’re coming at you.'"
That mentality is honed in UConn’s practices. Details matter—palms facing the right direction in the passing lane, feet squared at the right angle for a catch-and-shoot jumper. Drills are executed over and over and over until completed perfectly.
That’s how the group that set the previous record beat teams by a blistering 33.3 points a night on average—with players like Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery. Hayes, part of that group, remembers a drill called "four-on-seven": four on defense, seven on offense. The drill wouldn’t end until the defense made a stop, no matter how much their legs felt like they’d fall off, no matter how long the drill would run over the allotted time.
"There were no excuses," Hayes said. "We just had to do it."
The current Huskies, who began their own streak in November 2014, also seek perfection. They complete three-man weaves, up and back, in 11 seconds. They sprint to water breaks. They yell on the sidelines. They dive for loose balls.
"We make sure that we push ourselves to the very point of fatigue," Williams told Bleacher Report, "and when you’re at the point where you think you’re going to break, how focused can you be and how much can you push through? I think that’s the difference between us and everyone else."
The system
Connecticut jerseys, navy and white, don’t display players’ last names on the back. Identities come second to the one stitched across the front.
Even as Auriemma once told the press UConn would win because, "We have Diana [Taurasi] and they don’t," he and his staff condition all players, stars or subs, to be ready at any moment. Sustaining two streaks—plus a third lasting 70 games (2001-03)—requires each player to conform to one system: the defense smothers, the ball moves quickly; adapt or find another team.
"You have to give up a lot of yourself in order to play here," Williams said.
Johnson learned that as a freshman for UCLA in 1973, playing alongside veterans like Jamaal Wilkes, who blocked his shot every day at practice. Johnson’s Crenshaw High practices had centered around sprints. His UCLA practices were more about efficiency. Each drill was planned to the minute, like shooting an imaginary ball to perfect form or simulating a rebound and outlet pass to perfect pivoting.
Watching Bill Walton get thrown out of practice once for having his hair longer than team standards allow, Johnson realized there was only one way to play: Wooden’s way. "It was like an army," said Johnson, who’d help the Bruins win their 10th national championship in 1975. "You didn’t want anybody standing out."
"It’s all about the system. When you got Geno at UConn, when you got Wooden…it’s a system where you can plug in outstanding athletes year in and year out," Johnson said. "It’s proven to be successful, so the better athletes you get to plug into that system, the more success you’re going to have."
A bigger goal
Six seconds remained against No. 4 Maryland in late December. The game was in hand, as UConn pulled ahead, 87-81. But the Huskies continued to deny full speed on defense. Maryland’s Shatori Walker-Kimbrough released a three. In a blink, Chong swatted the ball so hard it sailed out of bounds.
There are no plays off for UConn, a team few expected to be as dominant as it is this season, considering the loss of Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. Beating eight ranked opponents, including Baylor and Notre Dame, who were both ranked No. 2 when they faced the Huskies, the players hardly ever discuss the streak. They just continue to block shots. Drain threes. Toss the ball around the perimeter.
"We can’t look past anybody," Williams said. "At the end of the day, we have something bigger at hand, a bigger goal."
Seeking a fifth consecutive national championship, the Huskies have done more than catch excellence. They’ve defined it.
Mirin Fader covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow her on Twitter @MirinFader.
There aren't many guarantees in sports, but the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team remains the safest bet.
UConn defeated SMU 88-48 on Saturday, extending its historic winning streak to 91 games.
Per the Associated Press Top 25's Twitter account, the Huskies broke their own NCAA record of 90 straight victories.
The Huskies are a historic dynasty playing out in front of fans' eyes. They have won four straight national championships while losing only one game since the 2013-14 season.
Per ESPN.com's Darren Rovell, Nike showed its support for the Huskies with a special delivery after Saturday's win:
Connecticut's last loss was against Stanford—which also snapped the Huskies' 90-game winning streak in 2010—on Nov. 17, 2014. In the two-plus years since, head coach Geno Auriemma's team has been an unstoppable machine, with an average margin of victory of 38.3 points coming into Saturday and just two wins by single digits, per espnW.com.
There's still a lot of season left, but if the Huskies continue on their trajectory, they would end the 2016-17 campaign with 113 straight wins and five consecutive national titles.
The heights Auriemma continues to push his team toward seem boundless, with the rest of college basketball staring in awe at the program's accomplishments.
Fact: UConn women's basketball seniors finished with four national championships and a 151-5 record for their careers.
Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.
Source: Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch
