HARTFORD, Conn.
Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies keep rolling along.
Katie Lou Samuelson scored eight of her 26 points during a key third-quarter run, and No. 1 UConn beat 12thranked Ohio State 82-63 on Monday night for the Huskies’ 85th consecutive victory.
“ We’re maximizing what we have right now,” Auriemma said. “Nov. 14 to Dec. 19, it’s a month and five days, we’re 10- 0, beat some pretty good teams. … So far so good.”
Napheesa Collier had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies (10-0), who are five games away from matching their NCAA record 90-game winning streak set from 2008-10.
UConn led by six before opening the second half with a 15- 7 spurt. Samuelson hit two 3- pointers during the run. The second made it 55-41.
The Huskies also switched up their defense on Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell, holding her to four points in the second half after she had 19 at the break. With Mitchell bottled up, the Buckeyes (9-4) couldn’t get within single digits.
“We knew that it was going to be really difficult to guard them and we knew we’re not going to stay in the same defense the whole game and be able to do it,” Auriemma said. “Show them a little different look every now and then. ( Mitchell) is impossible to guard. You saw that. No shot she won’t take.”
Ohio State trailed 19-7 before scoring the final nine points of the first quarter, capped by Mitchell’s deep 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
The Buckeyes were down 28-24 when UConn went on a 12- 2 run capped by Collier’s 3- point play that made it 40-26 with 2:22 left in the half. Mitchell then closed the half with eight straight to get the Buckeyes to 40-34 at the break.
Mitchell only had eight points in the meeting between the teams last season, going 2 for 14 from the field.
“ To their credit we came out of the locker room flat and they took control of the game,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said.
UConn has already beaten No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Baylor, No. 7 Florida State, No. 16 Texas and DePaul, which was in the Top 25 when the teams met. The Huskies still have games left against No. 4 Maryland and No. 6 South Carolina.
“ We’re not going to win them all,” Auriemma said. “Not going to win every single game for the rest of eternity.”
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less