Te'Yala Delfosse Scores a Career-High 22 as No. 5 Michigan Stuns No. 2 UConn 77-66 and Ends a 39-Game Streak

ANN ARBOR, Mich. The first top-five women's basketball game ever played at Crisler Center came down to one four-minute stretch, and Michigan owned it.

Trailing 57-55 early in the fourth quarter, the No. 5 Wolverines scored eight straight points, forced a timeout from UConn coach Geno Auriemma, and pulled away to beat No. 2 UConn 77-66 on Thursday, Nov. 5. Junior Te'Yala Delfosse scored a career-high 22 points with nine rebounds, and Michigan outscored the Huskies 22-13 in the final quarter.

The win was the highest-ranked victory in Michigan program history and its third win over a top-five opponent, according to Michigan. It also snapped UConn's 39-game regular-season winning streak, according to NCAA.com. The Huskies had not lost a regular-season game since Feb. 6, 2025, at Tennessee.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab), Michigan's recap (opens in a new tab) and UConn's recap (opens in a new tab).

A back and forth first half

UConn came out shooting. The Huskies made three 3s in the first quarter and led 21-17 after 10 minutes, while Michigan hit only six shots in the period. Two of those were 3s from junior Syla Swords, who was on the floor for all but 47 seconds of the game, according to Michigan.

The second quarter flipped the game. Michigan held UConn to eight points, the Huskies' lowest quarter of the night, and got seven points from Delfosse and six from junior Olivia Olson in an 18-8 period. UConn's recap pointed to foul trouble for junior Sarah Strong as a key factor in the stretch. Michigan went to the locker room up 35-29.

UConn answers in the third

The Huskies were not going to go quietly. UConn scored 24 points in the third quarter, its best period of the night, and took a 40-38 lead before Michigan steadied itself. The Wolverines carried a 55-53 lead into the fourth.

Freshman Jovana Popovic was the reason UConn stayed close. Playing her second college game, Popovic scored 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting, made 3 of 5 from deep, and added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in 36 minutes. She had opened her career with 19 points in a 100-35 win over Cornell three days earlier, according to UConn.

The fourth quarter run

UConn scored the first four points of the fourth to take a 57-55 lead. Then the game turned.

Kendall Dudley scored on a layup off an Olson steal to tie it. Delfosse followed with back to back 3s in a 40-second span, and Michigan led 63-57. Auriemma called timeout with 6:43 left.

UConn trimmed the lead to four out of the break but never got closer. When the Huskies cut it to six again, Ashley Sofilkanich scored on a layup with 2:11 left to push the margin back to eight, and Michigan closed it out at the free throw line.

Delfosse finished 8 of 13 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3, with two steals and a block in 32 minutes. It was the kind of night that made her coach want to talk about her before anyone else.

"[Delfosse] has never wavered," Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said, according to NCAA.com. "I think the whole country had the opportunity to see Tay today, and she's only going to get better."

Michigan's supporting cast

Olson filled every column with 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in 38 minutes. Swords added 10 points and five rebounds while making 3 of 8 from deep.

Graduate student Courtney Ogden gave Michigan a jolt off the bench with 12 points in 13 minutes on 5 of 8 shooting. Dallas Loughridge, making her Michigan debut, scored only five points but handed out nine assists in 39 minutes. Dudley finished with six points and five rebounds.

"This was really special," Barnes Arico said, according to NCAA.com. "I think it's just great for Michigan and Michigan women's basketball."

Where UConn came up short

The numbers explain the result. UConn shot 41.5 percent from the field and only 25.8 percent from 3, making 8 of 31. Michigan shot 44.3 percent and made 9 of 20 from deep, a 45 percent clip.

The Huskies also turned the ball over 19 times, five more than Michigan, and the Wolverines scored 14 points off those mistakes to UConn's 10. Michigan held edges in second-chance points, 12-9, and fast break points, 10-4. The teams split the paint at 36 points each, and UConn won the rebounding battle 40-38.

Fouls were a big part of the story. UConn was whistled for 25 fouls to Michigan's 13, and the Wolverines went 14 of 24 at the line while UConn attempted only seven free throws. Strong fouled out after scoring 13 points with eight rebounds in 28 minutes.

Beyond Popovic and Strong, UConn struggled to find offense. Olivia Vukosa was efficient with eight points on 4 of 5 shooting in 12 minutes. KK Arnold and Blanca Quiñonez added seven points each, and Ashlynn Shade was held to three points on 1 of 4 shooting. UConn's bench actually outscored Michigan's 18-15, but the Huskies' starters other than Popovic and Strong combined for only 10 points. Jana El Alfy went scoreless in eight minutes, and Kayleigh Heckel had three points and four turnovers off the bench. Against a defense as connected as Michigan's, two scorers were not enough.

Michigan's defense deserves its share of the credit. The Wolverines finished with 10 steals, four of them from Olson, and turned a UConn team that thrives on ball movement into a group that had 16 assists against 19 turnovers. Michigan, by comparison, had 17 assists against 14 turnovers, and Loughridge's nine assists against one turnover in her first game in maize and blue set the tone.

The game featured 14 lead changes and nine ties, according to the official box score, and 9,575 fans filled Crisler Center for it.

Context: a coach with a history

Ending UConn streaks is not new for Barnes Arico. In 2012, in her last season at St. John's, her team snapped UConn's 99-game home winning streak, according to NCAA.com.

This Michigan team also has its own history to build on. Last season, the Wolverines finished 28-7, earned a No. 2 seed, the highest NCAA tournament seed in program history, and reached the Elite Eight before falling to No. 1 Texas 77-41, according to NCAA.com. With Olson, Swords and Delfosse all juniors now, this was a statement that the run was not a one-time thing.

What it means

For Michigan, the win paid off immediately. The Wolverines moved up to No. 2 in the AP poll released Nov. 9, the highest ranking in program history. Three days after beating UConn, Michigan raised its Elite Eight banner and routed Wright State 109-52. Read our recap of Michigan's win over Wright State.

For UConn, a November loss on the road to a top-five team is hardly a crisis. The Huskies fell to 1-1 and returned home to face No. 10 Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 8, with Azzi Fudd's induction into the Huskies of Honor scheduled before the game. Popovic's start to her career is the biggest takeaway, and the Huskies will expect better than 8 of 31 from 3 most nights. They responded quickly, beating Iowa 91-79 behind a career-high 39 points from Strong, and slid only to No. 4 in the next AP poll.

Michigan and UConn met on the men's side this season too. Read about UConn's title game rematch win over the Michigan men, the UConn men's win over Gardner-Webb, and the Michigan men's opener against Oakland.

Sources: official box score, Michigan Athletics, UConn Athletics and NCAA.com (opens in a new tab).

Photo: Michigan Photography