Stanford–UConn women's basketball rivalry

The Stanford–UConn women’s basketball rivalry is an intercollegiate basketball rivalry[1][2][3][4] between the Stanford Cardinal and UConn Huskies. The rivalry series is between two of the most successful in women's basketball, as the programs have combined for 13 NCAA titles.[5] Stanford and UConn have met six times in the NCAA tournament, with five of these postseason meetings occurring in the Final Four.[6] As of 2020, UConn leads the series 11–7.[7]

Stanford–UConn women’s basketball rivalry

Stanford Cardinal UConn Huskies
First meeting	December 9, 1988 Stanford 72, UConn 53
Latest meeting	November 12, 2017 UConn 78, Stanford 53
Statistics
Meetings total	18
All-time series	UConn leads, 11–7
Largest victory	UConn, 87–60 (1995)
Longest win streak	UConn, 4 (2011–2014)
Current win streak	UConn, 1 (2017–Present)

Series history

After Stanford won the first three meetings,[8] UConn grabbed their first victory in the 1995 tournament, blowing out the Cardinal by a score of 87–60 in the national semifinals.[9] UConn would win its following game over Tennessee for their first national championship.

The teams would meet thrice more in the postseason before the 2010 tournament with the national title at stake.[10] In San Antonio, UConn downed Stanford 53 to 47 to overcome an 8 point halftime deficit and cap off an undefeated season.[9]The following season, the Cardinal snapped the Huskies' 90-game winning streak, a week after Connecticut had broken the previous record of 88 games by UCLA.[11] The loss was the first by UConn since 2008, when Stanford had beaten the Huskies in the 2008 Final Four. The Huskies returned the favor in 2012, ending the Cardinal's 82-game winning steak at Maples Pavilion in a 1-2 ranked matchup.[9]

In 2014, the Cardinal again played spoilers. Stanford defeated the Huskies in overtime to snap UConn's 47-game winning streak.[9] Amber Orrange hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the second half, sending the game to extra time, and then scored the go-ahead basket in the final two minutes of overtime.[9][12] The Huskies followed that defeat by reeling off 111 wins in a row, including another victory over the Cardinal in the national semifinals of the 2014 NCAA tournament.[13]

Rival accomplishments

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.[14][6][15][7]

Team	Stanford Cardinal	UConn Huskies
NCAA National Titles	2	11
NCAA Final Four Appearances	13	20
NCAA Tournament Appearances	33	31
NCAA Tournament Record	89–31	121–20
Conference Tournament Titles	13	25
Conference Championships	24	26
First Team AP All-Americans	7	25
Naismith Players of the Year	2	10
All-time Program Record	1,118–340	1,183–304
All-time Winning Percentage	.767	.796

Game results

Stanford victories

Connecticut victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 December 29, 1988 Stanford, CA #9 Stanford 72–53 2 February 20, 1993 Storrs, CT #10 Stanford 68–54 3 December 28, 1993 Stanford, CA #11 Stanford 94–75 4 April 1, 1995 Minneapolis, MN #1 Connecticut 87–60 5 December 21, 1997 Lakeland, FL #3 Connecticut 94–78 6 March 27, 2005 Kansas City, MO #1 Stanford 76–59 7 November 22, 2007 Saint Thomas, USVI #2 Connecticut 66–54 8 April 6, 2008 Tampa, FL #4 Stanford 82–73 9 April 5, 2009 St. Louis, MO #1 Connecticut 83–64 10 December 23, 2009 Storrs, CT #1 Connecticut 80–68 No. Date Location Winner Score 11 April 6, 2010 San Antonio, TX #1 Connecticut 53–47 12 December 30, 2010 Stanford, CA #9 Stanford 71–59 13 November 21, 2011 Storrs, CT #2 Connecticut 68–58 14 December 29, 2012 Stanford, CA #2 Connecticut 61–35 15 November 11, 2013 Storrs, CT #1 Connecticut 76–57 16 April 6, 2014 Nashville, TN #1 Connecticut 75–56 17 November 17, 2014 Stanford, CA #6 Stanford 88–86^OT 18 November 12, 2017 Columbus, OH #1 Connecticut 78–53 Series: Connecticut leads 11–7

References

1. Tylicki, Dan. "UConn Women's Basketball: Why Loss To Stanford Is Good for Women's Hoops". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
2. Fuller, Jim (2017-11-12). "UConn, Stanford renew rivalry to start season". New Haven Register. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
3. Elliott, Rich; Writer, Staff (2011-11-20). "Stanford, UConn resume what may be top rivalry in women's game". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
4. "1 vs 2: Stanford, UConn women renew rivalry". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
5. "7 schools with the most women's DI basketball national championships | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
6. "Postseason Record". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
7. "1920 Media Guide WEB (PDF)" (PDF). University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
8. ALTAVILLA, JOHN. "UConn Women Hope Stanford Rivalry Will Last Indefinitely". mcall.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
9. Doyle, Paul. "UConn vs. Stanford: Memorable History". courant.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
10. "DI Women's Basketball Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
11. Barkhorn, Eleanor (2010-12-31). "UConn Women's Basketball Loses to Stanford, Ending Record-Breaking Winning Streak". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
12. "Stanford vs. UConn - Game Recap - April 6, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
13. ESPN. "Undefeated UConn back in title game after beating Stanford". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
14. "Year-by-Year Records". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
15. "All-Americans". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-06-27.