UConn Ends Stanford's 82-Game Home Winning Streak

Very little went well for Mikaela Ruef and the Stanford women, who were demolished by UConn, 61-35. (Sean Havey)

The University of Connecticut's women's basketball team knows about having long win streaks snapped. They had their NCAA-record 90 consecutive victories end when they lost to Stanford. The Huskies hoped to get revenge on the Cardinal when they faced the two squared off at Maples Pavilion on Saturday.

The Stanford women came into the game on a 82-game home winning streak. The top-ranked Cardinal knew they would get all they could handle from No. 2 Connecticut. The Huskies used tenacious defense to take the game over in the first half.

With the score tied 5-5 early on in the first half, the Connecticut women used their defense to go on a run. Over the next 14 minutes, they scored 24 points and only gave up four points. At halftime, the Huskies' lead was 31-13. The Cardinal struggled to find a way to get anything going offensively.

The second half was better for Stanford, but Connecticut refused to let them back into the game. The Cardinal were never able to get closer than 15 points in the second half. The final margin of defeat was 26. This loss was the worst defeat of Tara VanDerveer's 26 years as the Stanford women's head coach.

Connecticut's defense held Stanford to record lows for field goal percentage (19.3) and total field goals (11). The Cardinal's top player, Chiney Ogwumike entered the game shooting 62 percent from the field, but she missed eight of her first nine shots and finished just 6-for-22 from the field.

Connecticut will undoubtedly become the new No. 1 when the next polls are released. They showed that suffocating defense can significantly change the outcome of a game. The Huskies will definitely be a championship contender come March. The hammering exposed Stanford in many ways. However, this is a talented team with a resume that includes a win over Baylor. The Cardinal will learn from this defeat and be better as a result.