UConn's 39-game regular-season streak ends at Michigan, and Sarah Strong fouled out

For more than a year of regular-season basketball, No. 2 UConn did not lose. That ended Thursday in Ann Arbor.

No. 5 Michigan beat the Huskies 77-66 at Crisler Center, snapping a 39-game regular-season winning streak that dated to Feb. 6, 2025. Freshman Jovana Popovic scored 25 for UConn. Reigning AP Player of the Year Sarah Strong finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and fouled out after a scoreless first half with three fouls.

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico now has a win over UConn at a second school, and the Wolverines finally have a win over a team ranked No. 2 or higher. Te'Yala Delfosse scored 22. Olivia Olson had 19 with four steals. Courtney Ogden added 12 off the bench in her Michigan debut.

Why this one stings for UConn

The Huskies led after one quarter and briefly again early in the fourth at 57-55. Then Michigan ran off 13 of the next 15 points, with Delfosse burying consecutive 3s, and Geno Auriemma's timeouts did not slow it down. UConn managed 13 points in the fourth.

Strong's foul trouble is the detail UConn fans will argue about. Three first-half fouls kept the Huskies' best player off the floor in stretches, and she never got going before fouling out. Popovic carried the offense; nobody else reached double figures besides Strong.

Michigan also got 10 points from Syla Swords, who left the floor for only 47 seconds, and nine assists from Dallas Loughridge in her debut. The Wolverines had four players in double figures without starting point guard Mila Holloway, who is out indefinitely with a left leg injury.

Attendance was 9,575 at Crisler. For Michigan, it was validation after last season's Elite Eight run. For UConn, it was a November reminder that the margin against top-five teams is thin when Strong is in foul trouble.

UConn still draws No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 24. One November loss does not redefine the season. It does end the idea that every regular-season night is already decided.