'We got beat bad': Gamecocks' 71-game home win streak ends

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In recent years, they have emerged as the standard-bearer in women's college basketball.

Further cemented their status as a top program by appearing in the 2022 NCAA national championship game.

The team made a stunning impact on the basketball world and broke the University of South Carolina's 71-game home winning streak.

This win marked the biggest road victory for any top-ranked Division I team since 2009, when the Huskies beat then-second-ranked North Carolina. It was also the Gamecocks' largest home loss since 2008, which happened to be at the hands of the Huskies in Staley's first year as head coach.

I wasn't sure what to expect today, I said before the game, but I think we have the potential to be a great NCAA tournament team, because this was in us, and it showed up today. Can we see it every day? I don't know, but it's clear that we have it.

described it as "embarrassing."

They completely dominated us," Staley said. "There's no way to find any positives in it. We got thoroughly defeated, and it was a bad loss.

We got outplayed today," said Paopao, stating the Gamecocks' defense was "subpar" and their issues were a result of their own mistakes. "We've simply got to put in the necessary effort and be mentally and physically resilient.

The UConn Huskies, who have won the national championship 11 times, came to Columbia looking for a big win after losing to Notre Dame, USC, and Tennessee earlier this season. Their three-game losing streak against top-ranked teams was as long as it had been in the past 30 years. UConn was also struggling with recent history, having not won in Columbia since 2018 and not beaten South Carolina since 2021. They hadn't beaten a top-five team on the road since December 2018.

The Huskies secured their biggest win of the 2024-25 season by controlling almost every aspect of the game. They took the lead at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter and continued to pull away in the second quarter. By halftime, they had a 45-23 lead, which was South Carolina's largest halftime deficit since the 2019 Sweet 16. The Gamecocks were unable to get closer in the final 20 minutes.

We were focused on winning more than anything else, and there wasn't any mindset of just hoping we didn't lose.

They finished with a game-high 28 points. "We haven't achieved that yet. And it was really great to see us accomplish it."

UConn kept up the pace in the third quarter, fueled by a big second-half outburst from Fudd. The redshirt junior, who missed most of last season due to a torn ACL, scored 18 points in that period alone and made six of ten three-point shots for the entire game.

This was a huge moment for her," Auriemma said. "She hadn't played in a long time, hadn't been in this kind of situation in a long time. And for her to have the kind of game she had, this was huge. It really takes her a big step forward.

UConn's 13 out of 28 three-point shots failed to fall, contrasting sharply with its previous 26% success rate against top-ranked teams. Meanwhile, South Carolina struggled from beyond the arc, making just 3 of 17 attempts.

But the Huskies outdid South Carolina in its own specialty, dominating the rebounding battle 48-29 (the program's worst rebounding margin since 2009) and matching them point for point inside (36 points apiece).

In addition to the damage they did on defense, the Huskies also made the Gamecocks pay in transition, scoring 31 points off fast breaks while South Carolina managed only 12. The home team also had their second-lowest number of turnovers for the season, with only 10.

"We've been close to perfect in rebounding, transition defense, and offense, and that's as good as we've been all year," Auriemma said.

"This is our new standard going forward," Fudd added.

It's been a historic week for the Gamecocks, but not in a positive way. On February 9th, South Carolina's 57-game winning streak in regular-season SEC games was broken by Texas. Now, just seven days later, the Gamecocks' home winning streak - which was the fourth longest in DI history - has been reset to zero. The Gamecocks hadn't lost twice in three games since March 2019, and their three losses are the most by a Staley team since the 2020-21 season.

When we lose like this, it's clear there's more to it than just basketball," Staley said. "We need to identify what's going on and get back on track. We definitely have to improve, and we will.