126-game regular season win streak snapped Thursday
The folks at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas were treated to a rarity on Thursday night, watching the visiting UConn women’s basketball team suffer their first regular season loss in over four years, falling to No. 8 Baylor, 68-57.
Kalani Brown led the Bears with 20 points and 17 rebounds, delivering the first-ever win for Baylor over a No. 1 team.
The standard of excellence UConn has achieved in women’s basketball means that any loss by Gino Auriemma’s squad is newsworthy. Thursday marked the first regular season loss for UConn since Nov. 17, 2014, snapping a string of 126 consecutive regular season wins.
That loss at Stanford five seasons ago, was in overtime, which was the only way to beat UConn in recent times. Here are all of UConn’s losses since the start of the 2013-2014 season, before Thursday:
- Nov. 17, 2014, at Stanford: 88-86 (OT)
- Mar. 31, 2017, vs. Mississippi State (national semifinal): 61-59 (OT)
- Mar. 30, 2018, vs. Notre Dame (national semifinal): 91-89 (OT)
That’s three total losses in five-plus seasons, with 199 wins heading into Thursday night. The last time UConn lost in regulation was Feb. 18, 2013, with 163 regular season wins in regulation in between. That loss nearly five years ago was also against Baylor.
The loss also snapped a 58-game non-conference win streak for UConn, dating back to 2014.
Baylor held UConn to just 29.4% shooting on Thursday, improving to 10-1 on the season. Baylor has a streak of their own still intact, now with 28 straight home wins.