Katie Lou Samuelson scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half, and top-ranked UConn held off No. 4 Maryland 87-81 on Thursday night for its 87th consecutive victory.
Kia Nurse contributed 19 points and Gabby Williams fought through foul trouble to add 16 for the Huskies (12-0), who tied an NCAA women's record with their 30th consecutive road win.
After taking a 36-31 lead at halftime, UConn opened the second half with a 14-0 run to seemingly take control. Nurse started and ended the spree with 3-pointers, and Samuelson chipped in with a four-point play.
The Terrapins (12-1) closed to 75-70 with 3:40 left before a layup by Napheesa Collier blunted the comeback. Then, after Maryland got within six, Saniya Chong drilled a jumper from beyond the arc to make it 84-75 with 48 seconds remaining.
Brionna Jones had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Terrapins. Destiny Slocum scored 23 and Kaila Charles had 18.
The matchup between unbeaten teams drew a crowd of 17,950, the first sellout at a Maryland women's home game since 2007. The previous high this season 3,958.
Schedule/Results
(Week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1)
Wednesday, Dec. 28
NR/RV Tulane 77, Maine 62
Memphis 75, RV/NR Vanderbilt 59
William & Mary 82, East Carolina 72
Cincinnati 81, Chicago State 53
UC Davis 77, UCF 71
Houston 85, Alcorn State 70
Thursday, Dec. 29
No. 1/1 UConn 87, No. 4/3 Maryland 81
Friday, Dec. 30
Stetson at No. 23/25 USF • 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 31
*Cincinnati at SMU (American Digital Network) • 2 p.m. ET
*NR/RV Tulane at East Carolina • 2:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Jan. 1
*No. 1/1 UConn at UCF (SNY/ESPN3) • 1 p.m. ET
*Tulsa at Houston (ESPNU) • 4:30 p.m. ET
*NR/RV Temple at Memphis (ESPNU) • 6 p.m. ET
All times subject to change
[*] American Athletic Conference game