The No. 8 Baylor women end No. 1 UConn’s regular-season winning streak at 126 games.
WACO — Geno Auriemma knew that top-ranked UConn couldn’t keep winning every regular-season game it played, even though the Huskies had won 126 in a row.
That winning streak of more than four years ended with a 68-57 loss Thursday night at No. 8 Baylor, which won against a No. 1 team for the first time.
“What is disappointing for me, not that we lost. How long did you think you were going to win every game in the regular season, 10 years?” Auriemma said. “So I’m not surprised that we lost, but it was disappointing that we struggled so much on the offensive end.”
The Huskies (11-1) hadn’t lost a regular-season game in regulation since a 76-70 home loss to Baylor in a Nos. 1 vs. 2 matchup on Feb. 18, 2013 — a span of 163 games. Their only regularseason loss since then was 88-86 in overtime at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2014.
“Stanford in 2014. Think about that,” Auriemma said.
The 11-time national champion Huskies shot only 29 percent (20-of-68) with their lowest point total this season. Their only lead came at 2-0 when Crystal Dangerfield scored in the opening minute of the game.
Kalani Brown had 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Lady Bears (10-1).
UConn is the only No. 1 team Baylor has ever faced in 19 seasons under coach Kim Mulkey, who has two national championships coaching the Lady Bears. They had lost each of the previous three such meetings, including UConn’s last visit to Waco nearly five years ago.
“Connecticut gets everybody’s best shot. They don’t lose much, we don’t lose much,” Mulkey said. “When you can do it year after year after year, taking people’s best shots and you have a shot to play each other, it’s good for women’s basketball.”
Napheesa Collier had 16 points and 11 rebounds for UConn, while Katie Lou Samuelson also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
SOUTH CAROLINA 60 TEXAS A&M 57
Te’a Cooper scored 24 points, including 16 in the second half when the No. 23 Gamecocks overcame a nine-point halftime deficit, and South Carolina defeated the 21st-ranked Aggies in the teams’ Southeastern Conference opener at College Station.
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan had 11 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks for the Gamecocks (9-4).
Herbert Harrigan and Cooper scored, and Destanni Henderson added a 3-pointer for seven straight points and a 56-53 lead with five minutes left. Texas A&M (11-3) got within a point twice after that, the final time with eight seconds left on two Chennedy Carter free throws, but Cooper made two at the other end with 6.3 seconds left and a Carter 3-point try was way off.
RICE 58 SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 47
Nancy Mulkey had 18 points, Jasmine Smith added 15, and the Owls rallied past the Golden Eagles in the teams’ Conference USA opener in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Rice (10-3) outscored Southern Miss 37-21 in the second half on the way to its 10th victory in the last 11 games.
Men MICHIGAN 68, PENN ST. 55
Iggy Brazdeikis had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the No. 2 Wolverines returned to Big Ten play with a win over the Nittany Lions in Ann Arbor, Mich., improving to 14-0 and 3-0 in conference.
NORTH CAROLINA ST. 87 MIAMI 82
Reserve Markell Johnson scored 20 points in 23 minutes, and the 18th-ranked Wolfpack shot 57 percent in the second half to rally past the Hurricanes in the teams’ Atlantic Coast Conference opener at Coral Gables, Fla.
INDIANA 73, ILLINOIS 65
Romeo Langford scored a career-high 28 points, Juwan Morgan added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the No. 21 Hoosiers beat the Fighting Illini in Bloomington, Ind.
MINNESOTA 59, WISCONSIN 52
Amir Coffey scored 21 points, and the Golden Gophers put the No. 22 Badgers in an early hole before holding off a furious late rally to win at Madison, Wis.
PURDUE 86, IOWA 70
Carsen Edwards scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half, and the Boilermakers beat the 25thranked Hawkeyes in West Lafayette, Ind.
OREGON’S BOL OUT FOR SEASON
Bol Bol’s lone season at Oregon is over after nine games because of a left foot injury.
Bol announced on Twitter that his college career was over.
The son of late former NBA player Manute Bol, Bol was considered one of college basketball’s top incoming freshman prior to the 2018-19 season and is projected as an NBA lottery pick.