UConn women's basketball team's 145-game regular-season conference win streak ends after loss to Villanova

Villanova beat UConn's women's basketball team 72-69 on Wednesday in Hartford, Connecticut, ending the No. 8 Huskies' 145-game regular-season conference winning streak that dated back to March 2013.

Counting conference tournament games, the streak was 169 games.

UConn's last loss to a conference foe in the regular season came at Notre Dame, which was followed by a loss to the Irish in the championship game of the 2013 Big East tournament. However, the Huskies rebounded to win the national championship that season, the first of four titles in a row.

UConn then moved to the American Athletic Conference in 2013-14 and didn't lose to a conference foe in seven seasons in that league. The Huskies moved to a restructured Big East last season and went 18-0 in the regular season and won the conference tournament, beating Villanova 84-39 in the semifinals.

It was a very different matchup Wednesday between the Huskies and the Wildcats, who moved to 16-6 overall and 10-3 in the Big East. Villanova has won eight in a row and 13 of its last 14.

«Our defense came up pretty big, for sure,» said Villanova's Denise Dillon, who took over last season at her alma mater after longtime coach Harry Perretta retired. «We put up 72 against UConn. Saw a lot of players contributing.

»We're just excited. We talked about shrinking the scoring gap against UConn. I'm so proud of this group."

The Wildcats shot 51.8 percent from the field, 45.5 percent (10 of 22) from behind the arc. Lior Garzon led Villanova with 19 points. Maddy Siegrist (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Brianna Herlihy (15, 10) each had double-doubles.

«Games have to be won, they're not pre-ordained,» UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. «You've got to lose at some point, otherwise you're not