Chasing history as well as victory, Connecticut appeared rusty and nervous in the first half Sunday, but this was a game less about artistry than about the record books.
Despite a tentative start and erratic shooting, the Huskies overwhelmed Ohio State, 81-50, before a crowd of 15,232 at Madison Square Garden, tying the N.C.A.A. Division I record with their 88th consecutive win.
Guard Tiffany Hayes scored 26 points, forward Maya Moore added 22 and center Stefanie Dolson grabbed 15 rebounds for UConn, which matched the win streak set by the U.C.L.A. men from 1971 to 1974. The Huskies (10-0) have not lost since an 82-73 defeat to Stanford on April 6, 2008, in the national semifinals.
Logically, there is no reason to compare this achievement to UCLA’s streak. UConn’s streak should be compared to the previous streak in Women’s College basketball. But that would not achieve the purpose of elevating the status WCBB. By being comparing to UCLA, UConn implicitly receives the status that would be accorded a team in men’s college basketball that equaled UCLA’s streak.
There is an ideological agenda in emphasizing this streak that is not warranted by the importance of WCBB. NCAA Women’s teams in other sports have achieved longer winning streaks without any significant press coverage, and not because WCBB is a more popular sport. WCBB is a fringe market with dismal TV ratings as demonstrated by ESPN broadcasting UConn’s game on ESPN3. Men’s Basketball on the other hand is a huge money-making sport and it is considered somewhat embarrassing that Women’s basketball can never achieve similar popularity. In addition, there is an extraordinary number of Lesbians in WCBB. Presenting the sport as popular thus serves to demonstrate mainstream acceptance of homosexuality. I believe this is what drives ESPN’s inordinate focus on this very minor college sport.
UConn’s achievement should not be minimized within its own context. But that context should not be expanded to encompass UCLA. The two are simply not comparable. Ideological motives do not depend upon logic, however. There are masses to be educated.
carl
What does the “importance of WCBB” relative to men’s hoops have to do with the remarkable nature of this feat? 88 straight wins in any basketball context is worth regaling, because it takes some serious coaching, talent, and a bit of luck to pull it off. As a former UConn student, resident in the days when men’s and women’s teams were simultaneously #1, I can promise you that the women’s bball was at least as popular, of not more, than the men’s. And it has nothing to do with sexuality–what a bizarre claim. Coach Auriemma is *great*, with a dream of making UConn the Duke of women’s basketball. No one is claiming that the UConn women would beat UCLA, or most men’s teams, but to take away from the immensity of this feat because they have two x chromosomes is the action of someone who has no idea of the regional popularity of the sport.