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On paper, it was just a regular matchup between the No. 1 UConn Huskies (19-0) and another lowly conference foe. On Tuesday night, they visited the East Carolina Pirates (10-11) and unsurprisingly cruised to a 91-44 victory on the road Tuesday night.
What made this game remarkable was Gabby Williams joining Laura Lishness, Stefanie Dolson, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, and Kiah Stokes as the fifth player in UConn history to rack up a triple-double.
While she had to play 34 minutes to get it, Williams scored 16 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished 10 assists to lead UConn to its 94th consecutive win.
UConn's Gabby Williams had 16 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals against ECU. Most complete player in college hoops.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 25, 2017
The best part was that she didn’t even know she was completely unaware as it was happening.
“I had no idea I was that close,” Williams said. “The bench was telling me that I needed one more assist, but I thought they were telling me to just pass to Natalie. After that I knew.”
That wasn’t the only major Husky achievement of the evening. Kia Nurse, who finished with 15 points, scored her 1,000th career point, becoming the 42nd Husky to achieve the feat.
Sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson led the Huskies with 20 points while Napheesa Collier added 18 and Natalie Butler put up 11 off the bench.
In addition winning their 94th consecutive game, the Huskies also won their 34th consecutive road game, tying their own Division 1 record set from 2001-2004.
As for the actual on-court events, UConn was only up four before cranking out a 17-2 run to end the first quarter, leading 28-9 after ten. ECU came out strong in the second quarter, cutting UConn’s lead to 12 with three minutes left in the first half, but UConn went on another run to take a 46-24 lead into the break.
From there it was all UConn. The Huskies went on a 13-0 run to open the third quarter, and outscored ECU 43-20 in the second half. All that was left was for Williams to get her triple-double, which happened with 3:20 remaining in the game.
After the game, head coach Geno Auriemma had great praise for the junior forward.
“I marvel at her sometimes,” he said. “She was blessed with God-given abilities and God-given skills. That was a great performance and she hasn’t even scratched the surface yet.”
The Huskies’ next game will be on Saturday when they face off against Houston at the XL Center as they go for their 95th consecutive win.