UConn breaks own record with 91st consecutive win
Six-year-old mark falls after 88-48 rout of SMU in Dallas.
DALLAS — Top-ranked UConn broke its own NCAA record with its 91st consecutive victory, scoring the first 21 points and romping past SMU 88-48 on Saturday.
Coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies (16-0, 4-0 AAC) broke the record of 90 wins in a row that his team first accomplished more than six years ago. They matched that mark with a 65-point rout of No. 20 South Florida last Tuesday.
The four-time defending national champion Huskies s c o r e d 2 8 p o i n t s a n d haven’t lost a game since Naphessa Collier added 19 falling in overtime at sixthpoints and a career-high 16 ranked Stanford on Nov. 17, rebounds for UConn, while 2014. Gabby Williams also had a
Their first 90-game windouble-double with 19 points ning streak broke the Division and 10 rebounds, along with I record of 88 straight wins six assists. by the UCLA men’s basketAlicia Froling led SMU (10ball team and famed coach 7, 1-3) with 16 points and 12 John Wooden. rebounds. The junior from
That UConn streak also Australia entered the game started after a loss to Stanas the AAC’s top rebound at ford, in the 2008 national 10.6 per game. semifinal game, and ended UConn is 58-0 in American with another loss at StanAthletic games in its four ford on Dec. 30, 2010. seasons since joining that
While the only way UConn league, plus nine more wins will play Stanford this season while sweeping through the will be in the NCAA Tournaconference tournament each ment, the Huskies do have of the past three seasons. wins this season over secondSamuelson was 11 of 21 ranked Baylor, third-ranked shooting and had five 3-pointMaryland and sixth-ranked ers, finishing one point short Notre Dame — the latter two of matching her career high. on the road. She had 10 points in the
K a t i e L o u S a mu e l s o n first quarter, when Collier had nine points and seven rebounds as UConn jumped out to a 26-2 lead.
T h e Mus t a n g s a r e 0 -7 against UConn, and had lost the first six by an average margin of 51 points.
With another NCAA record in hand, the real focus for the Huskies is getting back to Dallas in about 2 1/2 months for the Final Four and going for their 12th national championship — and fifth in a row.
The national semifinal games are March 31 at the American Airlines Center, the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, which is about 5 miles from the SMU campus. The national title game is April 2.
UConn goes for its 92nd consecutive victory at Tulsa o n T u e s d ay n i g h t , t h e n returns home to play Tulane on Jan. 22.
Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists to lift Boston past slumping Philadelphia, which lost for the eighth time in 10 games (2-6-2). Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins. Krejci’s was his 500th point.
Filip Forsberg scored with 11:54 remaining in the third period as Nashville rallied to hand Colorado its 12th loss in its past 13 home games. A day after being acquired from the Avalanche in a trade, Predators forward Cody McLeod had a goal and a fight, facing off against former teammate Jarome Iginla in the second period.
Brock McGinn had a goal and three assists, linemates Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and two assists to lead Carolina. The Hurricanes overcame a 3-1 deficit.
Andreas Athanasiou scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Detroit went on to beat Pittsburgh, which had a potential tying goal disallowed for goaltender interference.
Jaromir Jagr scored early in the third period, helping Florida beat Columbus. James Reimer made 30 saves. Nazem Kadri scored twice in his first start with Toronto and Curtis McElhinney made 35 saves as the Maple Leafs moved into a tie with Ottawa for third in the Atlantic Division. Alexei Emelin, Max Pacioretty and Paul Byron scored in a 62-second span of the third period to lift Montreal past New York. Hampus Lindholm, Nick Ritchie and Ryan Kesler scored, and Jonathan Bernier earned his first shutout of the season for Anaheim. Minnesota scored goals on its first three shots, saw a 4-0 lead erased by Dallas, then won on Jason Zucker’s goal in the third period. Late Late Late