Women's basketball | St. John's 57, Connecticut 56: St. John’s halt’s UConn’s home win streak at 99
Coach Geno Auriemma and UConn lost to an unranked opponent at home for the first time in nearly 19 years.
STORRS, Conn. — St. John’s ended two incredible Connecticut streaks and years of frustration with one shocking victory.
Shenneika Smith’s three-pointer from the wing with eight seconds left lifted the Red Storm to a 57-56 win over the second-ranked Huskies last night, snapping UConn’s 99-game home court winning streak. It was the Huskies’ first home loss to an unranked opponent in nearly 19 years.
“It’s truly unbelievable,” St. John’s coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “There aren’t many teams that can say they beat UConn in this place, and now we’re one of them.”
St. John’s had lost the previous 27 meetings with UConn since a home victory in 1993.
“It’s amazing for our team,” said senior Da’Shena Stevens, who led the Red Storm with 15 points and eight rebounds. “We’ve been playing great. We made a statement tonight. To play against a really good team on their home court with what they were going for tonight, and to beat them, is amazing.”
Trailing by two with 16 seconds left, Nadirah McKenith drove the lane and passed to Smith, who hit the three-pointer to give the Red Storm (18-8, 10-3 Big East) the lead.
“When (Barnes Arico) wrote the play up, I hadn’t hit one all day and this was going to be the one I hit,” said Smith, who was 3 of 22 on threes this season.
UConn (24-3, 11-2) had a final chance, but Bria Hartley’s three-point attempt was short.
“Days like today are a reminder that you’re only supposed to win when you play really well and beat the other team. We didn’t deserve to win. I don’t care if we won 900 in a row at home,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “Leading up to that last shot, if that shot goes in — hey, that’s 100 in a row. Realistically, though, St. John’s outplayed us today. They did what they wanted to do better than what we wanted to do.”
The Huskies last lost at home on March 6, 2007, to Rutgers in the Big East tournament championship game. The NCAA counts the Huskies’ postseason games in Hartford and Storrs as home games.
