UConn Wins 12th Title, Ends 8-Year Drought

The UConn Huskies are atop women’s basketball once again.

In what once sounded impossible, the Huskies didn’t win the NCAA Tournament for eight seasons. Under the guidance of coach Geno Auriemma, the Huskies won 11 titles between 1995 and 2016. Following an undefeated season in 2015-16, the Huskies reached the Final Four six times in seven years — but came up short each time.

This past weekend, however, UConn left no doubt to who was the top team in America. On Friday, the Huskies obliterated UCLA — the No. 1 overall seed — by a Final Four-record 34 points. Yesterday, UConn faced the reigning champion South Carolina Gamecocks and put together an equally dominant performance.

The Huskies led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter before taking their foot off the gas. Paige Bueckers, the likely No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, struggled shooting (5-of-14) but still contributed 17 points. Star guard Azzi Fudd (24 points) and freshman Sarah Strong (24 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists) were unstoppable all game.

Following his team’s triumph, Auriemma spoke about becoming the oldest coach to win a Division I basketball title and what the past eight years have meant to him and his program.

“There was a big part of my inner circle of people that I trust that were hoping that after the Stewie fourth in a row that I should have called it a day back then,” Auriemma said. “That would have been apropos, I guess — ride off into the sunset.”

With the legendary Breanna Stewart on campus, UConn won four titles in a row — capped off with the undefeated 2016 season.

“But … you make the decision you’re not finished yet, and then three, four years go by, and people start telling you that UConn is not UConn anymore and it’s somebody else’s turn. And then five years go by, and six years go by, and seven years go by.”

Two years ago, Bueckers missed the entire season with a torn ACL. Last year, Fudd played in two games before injuring her knee and missing the rest of the season. In a sentiment shared by everyone familiar with college basketball, Auriemma remained confident in his team’s chances if everyone was healthy.

“For us, it always seemed like, if we ever got a chance to get healthy, this could be pretty good,” Auriemma said.

Bueckers is off to the WNBA following UConn’s sensational run to the title, but Auriemma’s team figures to compete for a 13th title next season, with Fudd and Strong leading the way. And, despite his age, Auriemma doesn’t appear to be nearing the end of his tenure any time soon, even though he has thought about retiring in recent years.

“We all feel our age at some point,” he said. “We don’t like to admit that we’re older because we still act younger because of the people that we’re dealing with. A lot of my friends that are my age that haven’t done what I’ve done with who I’ve done it with … they look way older, act way older because they’ve lost the ability to be a kid because they’re not around kids.

“So these kids are fun. But there is going to come a time when the fun doesn’t eliminate how hard it is to do this job. This job is really hard to do.”