
Tamika Williams not only holds the single-season record for field-goal percentage with the University of Connecticut women's basketball program, the 2002 graduate and two-time national champion has the top four single-season marks.
But the former 2002 WNBA first-round draft pick by the Minnesota Lynx, now an assistant coach at Penn State, may seen her monopoly at the top come to an end courtesy of Napheesa Collier.
Collier hit all 10 of her shots from the floor Tuesday night and finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, six assists to no turnovers, and five blocks before taking a seat for good with 11:11 to go. The top-ranked Huskies pushed their NCAA record overall winning streak to 98 and their NCAA record road winning streak to 36 with a 96-49 rout of Cincinnati in American Athletic Conference action before a crowd of 4,029 at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati.
"It's hard to play better than the way Napheesa did tonight," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said in his postgame press conference. "She's certainly had some great games all year long. But when she does what she did tonight, it's just fun to watch. She's just gets so many things done."
Collier raised her field-goal percentage to 68.7. Williams had her best shooting season as a junior in 2001 when she hit 75.9 percent from the floor. She also had seasons of 71.4 (2000), 70.4 (2002), and 65.8 (1999). Collier ranks third nationally in field-goal percentage and leads the AAC ranks by 12 points over teammate and second place Gabby Williams.
While Tamika Williams was never an All-American during her time in Storrs, the case for the sophomore forward from St. Peters, Missouri, continues to get stronger.
"I don't know if there's a player in the country that scores and rebounds and blocks shots in as many ways as Pheesa does," Auriemma said. "I just marvel at the things she's able to do. Tonight ... You can't play better and she played only 26 minutes. It's incredible."
Collier came out for good following her three-point play with 1:11 to go in the third quarter. Rebecca Lobo holds the school single-game record when the 1995 national Player of the Year went 11-for-11 from the floor against Iona on Dec. 23, 1994. Three-time national Player of the Year Breanna Stewart was 10-for-10 against Creighton on Nov. 23, 2014, the first victory of the 98-game winning streak.
"I just tried to play really hard tonight," Collier said to SNY's Justine Ward. "Coach has been talking about how we need to put two good halves together. So we came out with that mindset tonight."
Katie Lou Samuelson added 20 points and five assists while Kia Nurse chipped in 17 points and five assists for UConn. Gabby Williams matched Collier with her eighth double-double of the season as she had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
The Huskies had 31 assists on their 38 baskets and shot 51.4 percent from the floor.
UConn (23-0 overall, 11-0 AAC) leads South Florida and Temple by three games (two in the loss column) in the league race. The 22nd-ranked Bulls visit East Carolina Wednesdaynight while the Owls host Tulsa Wednesday at noon.
The win also put Auriemma into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time wins list with 778, breaking a tie with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer. The Scarlet Knights can get Stringer back even with a win over Indiana Wednesday night.
Auriemma said all the numbers and streaks seem to run into each other.
"They are the numbers," he added. "For me, I wanted to see how we would approach the game from a defensive standpoint and how long could we stay engaged in the game and not allow the score to dictate how we were going to play. What kind of shots are we getting? Where are we getting those shots from?
"So the last thing on my mind is the number. And I'm sure with this weekend coming up that will be a big topic of conversation for a lot of people. Right now, we needed a game like this where we did a lot of things really well."
Bianca Quisenberry hit a three to bring Cincinnati to within 10-7 with 4:28 gone before the Huskies took over. They shut out Cincinnati for the rest of the first quarter and the opening minute of the second to blow it open.
All five starters had baskets in the first 11 points of the run with Saniya Chong getting it started with a trey. A Collier three-point play followed by hoops from Samuelson and Nurse made it 28-7 after one. Williams, off a pass from Samuelson, completed the run to begin the second quarter.
Eight unanswered points to close the first half made it 49-22 for UConn at the break. A 20-3 spurt to complete the third quarter pushed the lead to 83-36 and the Huskies' reserves got their work in during the fourth quarter.
Cincinnati forward Shanice Johnson, a junior college transfer in her first year season with the Bearcats, showed why she's a contender for AAC Newcomer of the Year as she had 20 points and nine rebounds.
Auriemma is now 56-0 against teams that have one of his former players or assistant coaches on his coaching staff including 13-0 against Cincinnati's Jamelle Elliott, who is a member of UConn's 1,000-1,000 club as a player (1992-96) and also served 12 years as an assistant coach before taking the Bearcats' post in 2009.
Cincinnati (14-9, 5-5) has lost four in a row but is still in line to post its first winning season in the Elliott era.
"This is the happiest I've seen Jamelle since she took the job," Auriemma said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're in some postseason tournament."
The Huskies and Bearcats face each other just once in the regular season.
UConn returns home to face SMU Saturday at Gampel Pavilion (SNY, 2 p.m.) before entertaining No. 6 South Carolina on campus Monday night.