While UConn women’s basketball and Baylor have a short history, it’s produced memorable moments and games. Here’s a look at the history ahead of Monday’s Elite Eight game.
The first time UConn and Baylor’s women’s basketball teams played each other was in the 2010 Final Four at the Alamadome in San Antonio.
On Monday, top-seeded UConn will play second-seeded Baylor again at the Alamadome in the Elite Eight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
While the rivalry is short-lived (the two programs have only played eight times), it’s been competitive and has produced memorable moments.
From Final Four showdowns to fourth-quarter comebacks, here’s a look at the history between UConn and Baylor:
2010: Huskies beat Baylor in Final Four at Alamodome
Hello, Baylor. Meet Maya Moore.
In the first showdown between the teams, Moore had 34 points and 12 rebounds in the 2010 Final Four to lead the Huskies to their 77th straight victory.
UConn led by just three points with five minutes left in the third quarter, but a scoring run from Moore built the Huskies’ lead back up to double-figures early in the fourth quarter, and they never looked back.
The Huskies held Brittney Griner, that year’s AP player of the year, to 13 points.
UConn went on to beat Stanford in the national championship game.
2010: UConn outlasts Baylor in 1 vs. 2 matchup in Hartford
Just seven months after the two teams squared off in the Final Four, UConn and Baylor met again at the XL Center in Hartford, with the Huskies ranked No. 1 and the Bears No. 2.
Their second meeting was much closer than the first. Moore, who finished with 30 points, had the chance to put the Bears away late, but missed a corner 3-pointer in the final moments. Baylor looked to steal the win with just seconds left, but Odyssey Sims’ 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer as UConn escaped with a 65-64 win.
Griner finished with 19 points and nine blocks.
UConn fell to Notre Dame in the Final Four that season, while Baylor lost to Texas A&M in the Elite Eight.
2011: Baylor avenges back-to-back losses in Waco
A year after falling to UConn in the Final Four and in Hartford, Griner and the No. 1 Bears got one back, 66-61.
UConn led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but with Moore graduated, Griner proved to be the best player on the floor. She scored 25 points, including 12 in a 27-11 Baylor run that allowed it to come from behind and win.
Bria Hartley led the second-ranked Huskies with 25 points.
Notre Dame again beat UConn in the Final Four, but Baylor beat the Irish to win its second national championship.
2013: Griner hits a milestone as Baylor beats UConn again
Griner, a two-time All-American, dropped 25 points — including the 3,000th of her career — to sink the Huskies 76-70 at the XL Center. She scored 21 in the second half to pull the defending national champions, who trailed by as much as seven in the second half, into the lead.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for UConn.
UConn beat Louisville later that year to win the national championship, while Baylor fell to the Cardinals in the Sweet 16.
2014: Breanna Stewart and No. 1 UConn snap Baylor’s 68-game winning streak
By 2014, Moore had already won two WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx. Griner was a year into her professional career with the Phoenix Mercury.
Now it was time for Breanna Stewart to etch her name into the burgeoning rivalry’s history.
Stewart had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the reigning champion Huskies past the eighth-ranked Bears, snapping their 68-game winning streak with a 66-55 win in Waco.
Sims, the nation’s leading scorer, scored 20 points on just 4-for-25 shooting as the Bears were defeated at home for the first time since a 2010 loss to Texas.
UConn beat Notre Dame (which topped Baylor in the Elite Eight) in the national championship game later that season.
2016: Freshman Crystal Dangerfield leads No. 3 UConn past No. 2 Baylor
Gone were Stewart and Moriah Jefferson, who had led UConn to four straight national titles. But in was a 5-foot-5 freshman guard from Tennessee who proved she was the real deal.
Crystal Dangerfield, then a freshman, scored 19 points in her second college game to lead the third-ranked Huskies past No. 2 Baylor 72-61 in Storrs. Sophomore Napheesa Collier had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and classmate Katie Lou Samuelson scored 16.
It took a 16-2 run in the fourth quarter to secure a 77th straight victory for UConn.
Both teams would lose to Mississippi State in the NCAA Tournament that season; Baylor in the Elite Eight, and UConn in the Final Four.
2019: Baylor hands UConn its first regular season loss in over four years
Thanks to a 22-point, 17-rebound performance from All-American center Kalani Brown, the eighth-ranked Bears beat top-ranked UConn 68-57 in Waco. The Huskies hadn’t lost a regular season game since a November 2014 loss to Stanford — a streak of 126 games.
With 6-foot-7 Brown and a 6-4 Lauren Cox down low, Baylor scored 42 more points in the paint than UConn, which was led by Collier (16 points, 11 rebounds).
Baylor beat Notre Dame, which topped UConn in the Final Four, to win its third national title.
2020: Cooper goes off to lead Baylor past UConn for a second straight year
The Bears had beaten UConn three times prior to 2020, but never by more than 11 points.
But in January of 2020, Baylor posted its most decisive win yet. Led by Te’a Cooper’s 27 points, the sixth-ranked Bears beat the top-ranked Huskies, 74-58.
Baylor orchestrated a 15-0 run to send 12,000-plus fans at the XL Center home disappointed. The Huskies, who were led by sophomore Christyn Williams (21 points), had not lost a home game since Notre Dame beat them at Gampel Pavilion in 2013.
Two months later, the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.
