HARTFORD, Conn. — Sunday’s win over Tennessee may have represented the promise of this UConn women’s basketball team, but a mere three days later, on the same court in Hartford where the Huskies demolished a then-top-10 team, Wednesday featured an unraveling.
Aside from a valiant fourth-quarter comeback attempt, No. 8 UConn played to its floor against a hot Villanova team, ultimately falling, 72-69, and snapping its tremendous streak of 169 consecutive conference wins dating back to Dec. 29, 2013.
The Huskies (15-5, 9-1 Big East) trailed by as many as 19 before a late run thanks to the heroics of freshman Azzi Fudd (career-high 29 points, 13 in the fourth) made it a two-possession game with 36.2 seconds to play, and senior Christyn Williams (24 points) sank a pair of free throws to pull UConn within four with 26.2 to go. Even after Villanova’s Brianna Herlihy missed four free throws down the stretch, the Huskies couldn’t capitalize, and Williams failed to get off a last-ditch shot attempt in time to count.
