UConn Falls To Stanford In Regional Semifinal

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 27) -- The University of Connecticut’s 20-game NCAA Championship winning streak was snapped on Sunday night when the No. 3 seeded Huskies fell to No. 2 Stanford, 76-59, in the semifinals of the Kansas City Regional in the 2005 NCAA tournament.

UConn finishes the season with a 25-8 record while Stanford advances to the Kansas City Regional final against Michigan State on Tuesday.

The Cardinal came out of the gates and established a 12-6 lead in the opening 4:06. UConn battled back pulling within one at 14-13 on a layup by junior Ann Strother (Castle Rock, Colo.). Freshman Ketia Swanier (Columbus, Ga.) knotted the score at 18-18, hitting a 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining to play in the half. The Huskies then took their first lead of the game, 20-18, when junior Willnett Crockett (Harbor City, Calif.) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back.

After exchanging baskets, senior Ashley Battle (Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to give UConn its largest lead at six points, 33-27, going into the intermission. The Huskies continued to play their strong defense, holding Stanford to its lowest first-half point total this season as the Cardinal had field goal droughts of 3:51 and 6:31. The lead by the Huskies also marked only the second time on the year that the Cardinal had not been on top at the break.

Stanford quickly erased the UConn lead when they started the second half on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 33 apiece. The Cardinal then pulled ahead on their next shot as Susan King Borchard hit a 3-pointer at 16:40 to move the score to 36-35. The Huskies tied the score three times in the following five minutes, but could not pull ahead as the Cardinal went on a 13-5 run to move the score to 56-48 with 6:35 remaining.

Stanford’s Candice Wiggins hit one of the Cardinal’s six second-half 3-pointers to give them a double-digit lead at 64-53. The Huskies would not be able to erase the two-figure deficit, hitting only three field goals in the closing 4:45 as Stanford advanced to the Elite Eight with the 76-59 victory.

UConn registered a 32.4% mark in field goal shooting, making 22-of-68 shots. The Huskies struggled from the three-point range, hitting just 6-of-27 (22%). Stanford shot 46.4% on the game (26-of-56), and banged in 41.2% on its three-pointers (7-of-17). The Cardinal capitalized on 17-of-21 appearances at the charity stripe, tallying 13 alone in the second half. UConn held a slight edge in rebounds at 40-37.

Junior Barbara Turner (Cleveland, Ohio) (to the left) was the only Husky to finish with double-digit points, scoring 17 in 21 minutes. Seniors Jessica Moore (Palmer, Alaska) and Battle each added eight points, with Moore grabbing eight boards as well. Freshman Charde Houston (San Diego, Calif.) notched a team-high nine rebounds and registered all three of UConn’s blocks with six points and three steals.

Wiggins led Stanford with 21 points while King Borchardt notched 16 on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.