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By Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports

The Stanford women hit an all-time low and Chiney Ogwumike got a little upset about it.

The Cardinal ended Connecticut's historic 90-game win streak two years ago. On Saturday, the Huskies returned the basketball favor as they snapped the Cardinal's 82-game home win streak with a 61-35 victory in Maples Pavilion.

Stanford's last loss at home came on March 18, 2007, to Florida State, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

In a matchup between the nation's top two teams, UConn looked more like a No. 1 instead of a No. 2 with its dominating performance. The Huskies moved to 11-0 and will take over the nation's top spot while handing top-ranked Stanford (11-1) its first loss.

"To be so ineffective in so many areas of our game is disappointing and frustrating," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "This is beyond a wake-up call. I hope this gets everybody's attention to how hard we need to work and how hard we need to play."

It was UConn's first-ever victory in Maples Pavilion after three losses and it snapped the second-longest home win streak in NCAA women's hoop history.

"We executed our game plan defensively and they missed shots," Huskies' coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's that simple. It's no more than a big win against a good team. I'm sure it's a difficult loss for them but my guess is that come March they'll think back to this game and say it was a good game and they learned a lot."

Ogwumike, who finished with 18 points, but just made 6-of-22 from the floor, wasn't waiting for March.

"I don't think I've experienced something like this," she said. "Connecticut, the team we just played for 40 minutes, is the standard. I'm motivated, definitely. We need to get to that standard. I was frustrated but more at myself."

Stanford suffered through its worst shooting performance in the history of its program, making a mere .193 (11 of 57) of its shots. The Cardinal made just 5-of-33 shots for 15 percent in first half, leading to a 31-13 deficit. The Huskies held a 20-point lead (29-9) late in the half.

"We struggled running any offense," VanDerveer said. "Credit their defense but a lot of that is on us. We missed shots we normally make. It was a bad day. This happened and now we have to get better."

The 11 made baskets were also a historic low. The previous low was 17, the last time nearly six years ago. The 26-point margin is also the largest ever for a Stanford team at Maples Pavilion. The last time the Cardinal was beaten by 20 points or more at home was in 1986.

The last time Stanford scored fewer than 40 points was a 32-point effort in a 40-point loss against Missouri in 1984 in Miami.

"If you play good defense, you have a chance to win," Auriemma said. "For 40 minutes, our defensive focus was really, really good. We made very few mistakes defensively."

Ogwumike, who also had 13 rebounds, never had a moment to herself. She was consistently harassed throughout the game by as many as three players.

"It seemed like they were trying to force the ball into Chiney," Huskies' forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. "We were doubling and tripling on her to make her kick the ball back out and make someone make the play."

Stefanie Dotson recorded 14 rebounds and was the primary defender on Ogwumike.

"This is a hard environment to play in," Dotson said. "We had to make sure our heads were right. Two years it was a horrible loss. To come out here and play the way we did was the exact opposite. Two years ago, I don't know that I could do what I did today."

Ogwumike suggested she and "my partner in crime" Amber Orrange might take a few extra shots before the evening's men's basketball game.

"I need to learn to read defenses better and get the ball to my teammates," Ogwumike said. "Games like this, we were prepared. The ball was in our hands."

UConn outscored Stanford, 15-4, in points off turnovers and recorded nine steals, most created by the Huskies' press.

The Cardinal doesn't get much of a breather in its schedule either. Stanford plays at No. 23 Colorado on Friday and at Utah on Sunday, then goes to No. 8 California before hosting the Bears and No. 17 UCLA.

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