Connecticut Women’s Basketball Looks for 100th straight win vs. South Carolina

The Connecticut Huskies Women’s Basketball team is on the doorstep to history. Tonight, the No. 1 Huskies will host the No. 6 South Carolina Gamecocks with the opportunity to win their 100th game in a row.

819 Days without a Loss

The last time the Huskies lost a game was back on November 17, 2014 when they fell to then number 6 ranked Stanford 88-86 in overtime. That was 819 days ago. During the winning streak, the Huskies have faced some of the more elite teams in the country. They have faced 27 ranked opponents and have won all 27 matchups with an average margin of victory of 23.6 points a game.

#DuringTheStreak, @UConn has defeated 27 ranked opponents by an average margin of 23.6 points per game! 99 #AndCounting #UConnNation pic.twitter.com/YoEyYtG7CV

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) February 12, 2017

Close, But Not Close Enough

Their toughest competition, this season especially, has been when the Huskies have been on the road facing a top tier team. The closest the Huskies came to losing this season has been a 78-76 nail bitter at then number 12 Florida State on November 14th and a narrow win at then number 4 Maryland 87-81 on December 29th. Fortunately for the Huskies, tonight much anticipated matchup will be at home, where the Huskies have won each of their home games during the streak by double digits.

Tough Challenge for Huskies

The Huskies will be put to the test tonight as they take on a very talented South Carolina team. Led by head coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have had another successful season going 21-2, which is the program’s sixth straight twenty win season. South Carolina, like the streaking Huskies, boast high efficiency on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Huskies shoot an astonishing 52.3 percent from the field, the highest efficiency in the country. The Gamecocks shoot 46.6 percent from the field, 14th best in the country. Defensively, UConn ranks 11th in opponent’s points per game, giving up an average of 54.3 points a game. South Carolina isn’t too far behind in that category. The Gamecocks give up an average of 55.8 points a game, which ranks 14th in the country.

These two teams are no strangers to each other. The Gamecocks and Huskies will meet for the third season in a row, with the last two seasons being a battle of the top two teams in the country. The Huskies lead the all time series 4-0, with the last two meetings the Gamecocks closing the gap each time.

Tip-off from Gampel Pavilion will be at 9:00 p.m. EST on ESPN 2.