Historic Streak Ends In Heartbreak

Jon Schlemmer, PaperClip Staff/Writer

There are two ways people think of the state of Connecticut, UConn and then everything else. UConn women’s basketball to be exact.

For over the past decade, no team in collegiate sports has been more dominate then the Huskies and their outstanding coach Geno Auriemma. Past teams have include WNBA stars like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. Their amazing road to glory began back in 2014 and it never slowed down, until they ran into a familiar adversary: Mississippi State University.

On the night of April 1st, no one in the sports world could have seen what was coming. UConn had always been the “better” choice for the March Madness tournament and was sailing behind their inconceivable 111 win streak that followed them to that fateful night. These two teams have met in past, last year to be exact, in the Sweet 16 when UConn smashed Mississippi St. 98-38. It was safe to say, MSU had unfinished business with the Huskies.

Coming into March Madness, Connecticut was deemed the repeat favorites and almost seemed impossible to beat. But Mississippi had other plans. When MSU entered the tournament they were the number two seed with some standout talent, but when it came to their meeting with the Huskies, people counted them out.

Before the game began, Mississippi head coach, Vic Schaefer, told his team to “play relaxed, let the game come to you and pressure them early.” And that’s exactly what MSU did. They had constant pressure all night which led to a back-and-forth fourth quarter, created an overtime and set up one finale possession.

With the score tied at 64, the 5’5” guard, Morgan Williams took the ball down court and began her assault. With the clock falling to seconds, she put up the jumper and shocked the world. She did the impossible and snapped the streak that seemed untouchable for those in the past. The shot wasn’t just important for the snapping of the streak, but Williams put the team on her back and sent them to the NCAA title game. This is one that won’t surely be forgotten for the years to come.