STORRS, Conn. — Freshman Crystal Dangerfield scored 19 points, Katie Lou Samuelson added 16 and No. 3 UConn extended its winning streak to 77 games with a 72-61 victory over second-ranked Baylor on Thursday night.
The streak is the second-longest in women’s college basketball history, standing 13 short of the school record set by the Huskies from 2008-10. With stars Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson gone to the WNBA, Geno Auriemma’s team was expected to need a bit of time to grow.
LONGEST WINning STREAKS
90: UConn women (2008-11)
88: UCLA men (1971-74)
77: UConn women (2014-present)
70: UConn women (2001-03)
60: San Francisco men (1955-57)
So far they have already knocked off No. 12 Florida State and now Baylor.
With the game tied at 54 early in the fourth quarter, UConn took over. The Huskies scored 16 of the next 18 points to put the game away. Dangerfield, a diminutive guard, made a spectacular layup with 4:03 left that brought the near-sellout crowd to its feet and made it 62-56. Baylor (2-1) couldn’t recover.
Unlike during the 75 games leading into this season where the Huskies (2-0) won every game by double digits and most were decided by halftime, this season’s squad has had to pull out its first two wins in the final quarter.
(1) NOTRE DAME 71, GREEN BAY 67: Arike Ogunbowale scored 18 points and Brianna Turner added 14 as Notre Dame (3-0) overcame poor shooting and held on to beat Green Bay (2-1) in a Preseason WNIT semifinal at South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame couldn’t shake the Phoenix, even after going up by 17 midway through the third quarter.
(12) FLORIDA STATE 90, JACKSONVILLE 47: Shakayla Thomas had 15 of her 20 points in the first half and host Florida State (2-1) rolled past Jacksonville (2-1).
The Seminoles got 10 points apiece from Imani Wright and Chatrice White.
(15) KENTUCKY 92, NEW HAMPSHIRE 43: Makenzie Cann made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and Evelyn Akhator had another double-double to lead Kentucky (3-0) past visiting New Hampshire (1-2).
Akhator had 17 points and 11 rebounds, her fourth straight double-double dating to last season.
HUSSON 77, ST. JOSEPH’S 50: Darla Morales scored 21 points, Kenzie Worcester added 19 and the Eagles (1-0) beat the visiting Monks (1-1) at Bangor.
Worcester scored 15 in the first half as the Eagles built a 44-23 lead.
Regan McFarran had 11 points for the Monks.
MEN
(3) VILLANOVA 75, WESTERN MICHIGAN 65: Eric Paschall had 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:50 to go, to help rally Villanova (3-0) past Western Michigan (1-2) at the Charleston Classic in South Carolina.
Western Michigan cut a 14-point second-half lead to 59-56 with six minutes left before Villanova took off on a 13-4 run to secure the game.
(4) OREGON 76, VALPARAISO 54: Chris Boucher had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ducks (2-1) past Valparaiso (3-1) for their 27th consecutive home victory.
Jordan Bell added 15 points and seven rebounds for Oregon.
(9) WISCONSIN 69, CHICAGO STATE 51: Vitto Brown scored 12 points and Khalil Iverson added 11 as host Wisconsin (2-1) beat Chicago State (1-1).
Fred Sims scored 26 points to lead Chicago State.
(11) XAVIER 83, MISSOURI 82: Edmond Sumner’s free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining in overtime lifted Xavier (3-0) over Missouri (1-1) in an opening-round game of the Tire Pros Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Sumner and J.P. Macura each scored 19 points for Xavier.
(12) LOUISVILLE 88, LONG BEACH STATE 56: Jaylen Johnson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Deng Adel added 11 points and Louisville (3-0) jumped out quickly at home against Long Beach State (1-3) on its way to a third straight 30-point win.
HUSSON 75, ST. JOSEPH’S 54: Mitch Worcester scored 22 points and the Eagles (1-1) took control in the first half in a win over the Monks (1-1) at Bangor.
Justin Smith’s 3-pointer with 10:24 left in the first half gave Husson a 16-9 lead and began a 11-0 run that would put the Eagles ahead 27-9 with 4:50 left before halftime.
Mario Nery had 11 points for St. Joseph’s.
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