College Basketball: Irish hope to derail UConn

Although Notre Dame has a history of ending notable winning streaks, the Irish women may need help today ending top-ranked Connecticut's 55-game streak.

The consensus among Big East Conference coaches is that any team hoping to beat UConn will need the Huskies to play poorly. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw agreed that UConn would have to make some mistakes against the third-ranked Irish in the game in South Bend, Ind.

Former Texas coach Jody Conradt has 900 career victories and believes that this year's UConn team might be the most dominant ever, saying she can't remember a wider gap between the top team and the others.

Notre Dame's 10-point loss to the Huskies last season was the narrowest margin of victory for the Huskies during their streak.

Elsewhere. Lindsey Loutsenhizer scored a game-high 22 points in a losing effort as Manhattan fell to Loyola (Md.), 74-57, in Baltimore. . . . Brown beat Yale, 60-56, in Providence, R.I.

Brown 75, Yale 66 -

Steve Gruber came off the bench to score 15 points as the Bears (7-11) beat the Bulldogs (6-12) in the Ivy League opener for both teams in New Haven, Conn.

The game was tied five times in the second half. After the Bulldogs pulled within three, Brown used a 10-1 run to pull away.

St Peter's 77, Rider 66 - Wesley Jenkins scored 26 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and hit 4 three-pointers to lead the Peacocks (9-8, 4-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) over the Broncs (10-9, 3-4) in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Loyola (Md.) 68, Marist 61 - Freshman Robert Olson scored a career-high 20 points, helping the Greyhounds (9-8, 2-5 MAAC) snap a three-game losing skid with a win over the Red Foxes (1-16, 1-6) in Baltimore.