Behind a career-high 26 points from Gabby Williams, top-ranked Connecticut earned its 100th consecutive victory with a 66-55 triumph over No. 6 South Carolina on Monday in a nonconference game at Storrs, Conn.
"I told the kids this is great, you're going to be in the history books," said Huskies coach Geno Auriemma, who is 980-134 in 32 years. "Nobody got a medal tonight. That comes in March. This belongs to all the players who've played for us. They're part of this."
Asked to put the 100 straight wins into perspective, Auriemma said, "I can't wrap my head around it. This is not supposed to happen. This is not normal behavior by teams. What do you want me to say?"
The Huskies, who won the past four national championships, improved to 25-0 this season.
Connecticut's last loss was against Stanford in overtime on Nov. 17, 2014. The Huskies entered that game on a 47-game winning streak.
The win over the Gamecocks was the 16th in a row for the Huskies against a top-10 opponent. It was their 61st consecutive home victory.
Williams was asked if Connecticut was concerned about the outcome when leading by only two points in the third quarter, and she answered: "Absolutely not. I mean, there is a possibility. If you think like that, you think it into a possibility."
Napheesa Collier was Connecticut's only other double-figure scorer, producing 16 points before fouling out with 3:01 left in regulation. Williams also had 14 rebounds.
South Carolina (21-3) was led by A'ja Wilson's 17 points. Bianca Cuevas-Moore scored 11, and Alaina Coates contributed 10 points and 15 rebounds.
"We have all the respect in the world for Connecticut," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "We tried to slow the game down as much as possible to take possessions away from them, but they are great enough to overcome that."
The Huskies took momentum into the locker room by scoring the last seven points of the half. Collier had five of those points, including a layup with one second remaining in the half to give Connecticut a 35-29 lead.
Williams had 16 points and Collier 13 in the first half. Peculiarly, Connecticut's leading scorer, Katie Lou Samuelson, averaging 21.4 points before Monday, and Kia Nurse (13.3) did not score in the first half.
"The guy who has coached (Samuelson) has to do a better job in the second half," Auriemma quipped during a halftime interview.
Samuelson had only six points after halftime, but her contribution helped fuel the Huskies.
After South Carolina cut the deficit to 37-35 on a jump shot by Tyasha Harris with 6:35 left in the third period, Connecticut outscored the Gamecocks 14-4 the remainder of the quarter to gain separation. Collier had five points and Williams had four in that game-changing run.
"We just tried to stay poised and keep our composure," said Williams, a significant reason why Connecticut outscored South Carolina in the paint 34-26. "They had the advantage of being bigger and taller, but I had the advantage of smaller and quicker.
"And playing in front of this crowd and the energy ... This program is something special, and I'm so happy to be here."
A 3-pointer by Harris cut Connecticut's lead to 51-42 with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter. Samuelson was fouled on the next possession and made two free throws to put Connecticut up by 11 points, and the Huskies led by double digits the rest of the way.
Only two of Connecticut's 100 consecutive wins finished with single-digit margins.
"I mean, obviously, we think we prepare really well," Auriemma said. "The thing I'm most proud of day in and day out is that no matter the situation, we don't take games off.
"It doesn't matter if it's playing the worst team in America or the best. I'm really proud of them for that."
NOTES:
-- During the 100-game streak, the Huskies have defeated 28 ranked teams by an average of 23.2 points per game.
-- Connecticut improved to 5-0 against South Carolina.
-- Coach Dawn Staley has led the Gamecocks to their sixth-straight 20-win season after the program had just two such seasons in the Southeastern Conference era before her arrival.
-- UConn led the nation in three statistical categories heading into Monday's matchup: field-goal percentage (.523), assists/turnover ratio (1.90-to-1) and assists per contest (23.5).
-- Entering the game, South Carolina and UConn boasted four of the NCAA's top 25 field-goal-percentage shooters this season -- UConn's Napheesa Collier (third, .687), South Carolina's Alaina Coates (fourth, .670) and A'ja Wilson (20th, .582) and the Huskies' Gabby Williams (25th, .566).
