Stanford ends UConn's win streak at 90

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford really does have UConn's number.

The top-ranked Connecticut women's basketball team's record winning streak ended at 90 games last night when No. 9 Stanford outplayed the Huskies from the start in a 71-59 victory.

Stanford, the last team to beat Connecticut, hasn't lost in 52 games at home. The Cardinal took an early 13-point lead and never trailed.

UConn fans hadn't seen a loss since the 2008 NCAA semifinals, when the Huskies fell to Stanford, 82-73, in the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.

"At some point reality had to set in, and today reality set in," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I'm not destroyed about it. Winning that many games in a row, it's unheard of."

Jeanette Pohlen hit five three-pointers en route to a career-high 31 points for Stanford (9-2). Huskies star Maya Moore was held to 14 points and 5-for-15 shooting. Kelly Faris had 19 points and Bria Hartley (North Babylon) added 14 for the Huskies.

"I think that's an incredible, incredible accomplishment," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said of UConn's run. "Since we last played them and beat them, we've lost eight games - and two of them were to them. I'm really proud of our team for really stepping up and not being intimidated by the streak. Tonight was our night."

Said Auriemma, "I think the atmosphere and what was going on and when Maya couldn't get going early, I think it affected the rest of our guys. We just didn't play like ourselves. Give credit to Stanford. I think they played an unbelievably good game."

The Huskies (12-1) topped the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's UCLA men's team from 1971-74 by beating No. 22 Florida State, 93-62, last week. Then they won their 90th in a row this week at Pacific.

"When you see what happens tonight and how it happened, I think you can appreciate it even more what it took to get to that point and how many things can go wrong and how you can have bad nights," Auriemma said.

He said such a winning streak requires good players, luck and "that all your best players have to play great every night. And we didn't get that tonight."

"I'm just happy for our team," VanDerveer said. "The streak is something that they did. We're about Stanford and what we want to do."