The last time the UConn Huskies lost a game was on April 6, 2008 against Stanford in the NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa, FL.
The Huskies have beaten Stanford three times during that 90 game run of perfection, and two of those three Stanford defeats came in the NCAA Final Four.
One Texan in Houstonian Brittney Griner and her Baylor Lady Bears narrowly missed their chance at sports immortality, but Houston's Ogumwike sisters and their Stanford teammates didn't.
The number 9 ranked Cardinal knocked off number one ranked UConn 71-59 in front of a raucous sellout home crowd at Maples Pavilion to end the longest Division I winning streak in men's or women's basketball. It also ironically bookmarked how the UCLA one ended.in 1974.
"I think that's an incredible, incredible accomplishment," Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer
said of UConn's run. "Since we last played them and beat them, we've
lost eight games and two of them were to them. I'm really proud of our
team for really stepping up and not being intimidated by the streak.
Tonight was our night."
The Cardinal wanted this one badly. They been thinking about that 63-52 Final Four championship game loss in which they led 20-12 at the halftime break in San Antonio.
This time the Cardinal built a 13 point lead early and never trailed in keeping a streak of their own alive. Since a 68-61 upset loss to Florida State in the second round of the 2007 NCAA tournament, Stanford has won 52 straight games at Maples Pavilion.
Next game for UConn, who has not lost back to back games since the 1992-93 season is their Big East opener against Villanova. Stanford is a heavy favorite to win their 11th straight Pac-10 championship and will most certainly rise in the women's basketball rankings after this historic win.
But we'll see what happens if these teams meet again in the NCAA tournament.
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