The UConn women’s basketball team’s historic 79-game winning streak was put to its stiffest test in the last three seasons against Brittney Griner and Baylor. The Huskies passed, just barely.
No. 1 UConn beat the No. 2 Lady Bears 65-64 in the State Farm Tip Off Classic at the XL Center in Hartford to extended its winning streak to 80 games and improved to 2-0 on the season. Maya Moore scored 30 points and freshman Bria Hartley scored eight second-half points to lead the Huskies past Baylor. Griner had 19 points, seven rebounds and nine blocks in the losing effort.
With eight seconds left and two on the shot clock, Moore took an inbounds pass from just beyond the elbow and missed the rim. Baylor had no timeouts remaining and Odyssey Sims had to dribble down the court and throw a last heave for the Lady Bears. The shot fell short and UConn celebrated at midcourt. Coach Geno Auriemma didn’t know that the Huskies could pull out the win to continue their streak.
“When we got up 15, we looked like and acted like and carried ourselves on the court like we’re Connecticut and we do this every night,” Auriemma said. “Then all of a sudden Baylor goes on a run, we start doing crazy ridiculous things.”
The senior leader Moore had her doubts as well, but she was pleased with the way UConn responded.
“I was speechless,” Moore said. “I was just proud of the way my teammates responded, that was a really big moment for us. I thought we responded to the test and we did just enough to get it.”
The Huskies erased an eight-point deficit with more than seven minutes left in the second half. Hartley tied the game with a 3-pointer with less than four minutes remaining.
Although Hartley was playing in her second regular season game, she was confident she’d help the team come back.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking but I knew we’d come through,” Hartley said. “I was just playing.”
After Griner made it a 60-58 Baylor lead, Hartley tied the game again with a put back off a Moore miss. With two minutes remaining, Hartley made another big 3-pointer to take the lead for good 63-60. Kimetria Hayden answered to make it a one-point game with 1:30 left. Moore hit a jump shot to extend the lead to 65-62. Melissa Jones cut the lead back to one with 36 seconds left to set up the final sequence of stops.
“She had eight of the biggest points of her life, up to this point,” Auriemma said. “Bria reacted exactly the way I thought she’d react, it just took a little longer. I don’t know if there’s been a bigger shot in her life than the three she had on the wing to tie the game.”
“I compliment Connecticut,” Mulkey said. “They were down eight and we couldn’t put them away.”
Samarie Walker fouled out with 9:44 left in the second half and Stefanie Dolson fouled out with 7:24 remaining. The two freshmen had the challenge to guard Griner. After Dolson exited, Heather Buck played the final seven minutes.
UConn pushed the lead to 15 out of the gate in the second half, but Baylor answered with a 24-4 run to take the lead. Jordan Madden’s three gave the Lady Bears a 51-48 lead, which they extended to and eight-point lead with under eight minutes left.
Tiffany Hayes was the only other Husky scoring in double figures with 16 points on 5-for-20 shooting.