Stewart lifts No. 1 UConn to easy 66-54 win over No. 2 South Carolina
Columbia, S.C. — They’ve done this consistently, relentlessly for two decades now. At Tennessee. At Notre Dame. At Duke. And there’s nothing sweeter than silencing the infidels, all of them yelling at you pregame and saluting you by postgame.
It happened again Monday night, the women’s game growing another tentacle, this time into Colonial Life Arena, rollicking sellout of 18,000. The top-ranked UConn women, continuing their flair to crush the dramatic, hammered No. 2 South Carolina, 66-54.
It was UConn’s 60th straight win. The Huskies snapped South Carolina’s 45-game home win streak. And it leaves UConn (23-0) as the country’s lone undefeated team.
“The fun part is really the look in their eyes when they’re getting ready to play in a game like this,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s quite different than any other time. Not that they take anybody lightly. When it’s the biggest moment, you could tell the way we practice the day before, the way shootaround goes, the look on their faces watching film. It’s a whole different vibe. It makes me different. There was a little bit of stuff flowing through all of us. I’m really proud of our team.”
Proud in particular of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson, the three primary reasons the Huskies are the overwhelming favorites to win their 11th national championship. Stewart finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Tuck, not long removed from an injury, scored 16 points and smothered South Carolina’s Alaina Coates (1-for-6 shooting). Jefferson had 12 points and six assists, successfully guarding Tiffany Mitchell, a potential lottery pick.
“Those three, you know, I appreciate them more and more every day,” Auriemma said. “Sometimes, I start to blink and I realize next year they’re not going to be here. Some of the plays they made were unbelievable. Some of the shots Stewie makes, the way Moriah gets in the lane, how Tuck is on one leg, I just can’t say enough about them.”
A’Ja Wilson, South Carolina’s leading scorer, left the game in the second period with a lower leg injury. She returned in the third, finishing with 13 points. The Gamecocks (22-1) trailed 30-15 when Wilson departed.
UConn led 17-8 after one period, making seven field goals and three free throws. All seven field goals were layups.
“It’s fun. These are the reasons you come to UConn, to play in these big time games,” Stewart said. “To be on someone else’s homecourt, everyone cheering against us. The odds are against us.”
Some other folks actually thought that was the case before the game as well.
“I actually got asked today whether this was a litmus test for us, if we needed this game to validate who we are because we play in a bad conference,” Auriemma said. “It’s remarkable the questions I’ve got to answer. Some of these teams in the Power Five conferences need to join our conference. They need to play us more often.”
South Carolina, at least, will. The schools announced a two-year extension Monday. The Gamecocks will visit Connecticut next year.
“I’m not surprised by what happened tonight,” Auriemma said. “We knew we were playing a great team, a team that’s almost unbeatable on their home court. They're probably going back to the Final Four. They’re that good. When my guys know that the challenge is huge, those three seniors usually come up huge.”
m.dimauro@theday.com
Twitter: @BCGenius
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