UConn women secure 10th title
TAMPA, Fla. — Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies are a perfect 10.
The Hall of Fame coach joined some elite company in UCLA’s John Wooden after tying the Wizard of Westwood with his 10th NCAA Tournament title.
“Obviously it’s a very significant number because that’s the number that’s been out there and people want to talk about it. I’ll be the first to say I’m not John Wooden and I got a bunch of friends who’d tell you I’m right, I’m not,” Auriemma said. “As I said the other day I just think what we’ve done here in the last 20 years is pretty remarkable in its own right.
“I’ll let the people who write the history decide where I fit in.”
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson each scored 15 points Tuesday night to lead the Huskies to a 63-53 victory over Notre Dame. It was UConn’s third straight title; Auriemma and the Huskies have won all 10 of their trips to the national championship game. As has become a tradition, his team carried Auriemma off the court after dumping confetti on his head.
Breanna Stewart added 15 rebounds and eight points for UConn (38-1). The two-time AP Player of the Year has saved her best games for when the lights shined their brightest.
She earned most outstanding player of the Final Four honors for the third time, making her the first woman ever to achieve that. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the only men’s player to do it when he played for Wooden’s Bruins.
“There just hasn’t been a player like Stewie in the women’s game in a long, long time,” Auriemma said. “She might be two inches taller than Cheryl Miller and Cheryl Miller was one of best players I saw. ... Stewie’s the kind of player that women’s basketball probably hasn’t seen.”
She stated when she came to UConn that her goal was to win four championships. She’s now one title away from being the first to win four straight.
“I think it’s really surreal and I haven’t had a chance to even think about that,” said Stewart wearing the championship net around her neck. “I’ve won three national championships, but said I wanted to win four, you can’t win four without winning three first.”
Auriemma took Stewart out with about 30 seconds to play and gave her a big hug. The 6-foot-4 star is the latest in a long line of outstanding UConn players that Auriemma has coached, including Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore.
Those players have helped Auriemma win his 10 championships over 20 years. Wooden won his 10 during a 12-year span.
“I just know that in our sport, from 1995 to today, what we’ve done against our peers is as good if not better than anybody else has done in their sport against their peers,” Auriemma said. “I don’t care whether it’s harder in that sport.”
Auriemma won his title one night after fellow USA Basketball Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski won his fifth men’s championship at Duke.
