The UConn
Women’s Team just accomplished a feat that hasn’t been done in Men’s or Women’s
college basketball in near 50 years. That feat is 4 consecutive National
Championships. They achieved that mark by defeating Syracuse 82-51 in the
National Championship game April 5th. The last program to accomplish
that in any gender is the UCLA men’s team that won 7 straight titles from
1967-1973 under the late great Coach John Wooden. Also with that win Head Coach
Geno Auriemma also set the record for most national championships for a Head
Coach with any gender with 11.
The UConn
Women’s program has been absolutely dominant the last 20 plus years since their
first National Championship in the 1994-95 season. The program steadily rose
every season since Auriemma’s first in 1985 up until the 1st
National Championship. UConn quickly rose to prominence after Auriemma was
hired in August 1985. After finishing 12–15 in Auriemma's first season, his
only losing season. Winning their 1st conference championship under
Auriemma during the 1989-90 season. Prior to Auriemma's arrival at Storrs in
1985, the Huskies Women's Basketball team had posted just one winning season in
its history.
UConn has
finished above .500 for 30 consecutive seasons, including six undefeated
seasons (1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14 and 2015-16) and two NCAA
record streaks of 90 and 70 consecutive wins. They also have a current win
streak of 75 games dating back to a 2014 loss to Stanford. The team has been
especially successful on its home court in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the
UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut, and in the larger XL Center in Hartford;
they tied an NCAA women's basketball record with 69 consecutive home wins
between 2000 and 2003. That record was broken in 2011. The last home loss was
to Villanova in the game that ended their 70-game winning streak. Moreover,
between Auriemma's arrival and the close of the 2005 season, UConn won 295
games versus just 31 losses. The team has set Big East Conference records for
both single-game and season-long attendance.
Here’s A
List of Accomplishments Under Geno Auriemma:
·
Highest
winning percentage among NCAA basketball coaches (minimum 10 seasons), any
level, men's or women's (.877)
·
Most NCAA
Division I Championships, men's or women's (11)
·
Most
consecutive Elite Eights, men's or women's (11, 2006–2016)
·
Most
consecutive Final Fours, women's (9, 2008–2016)
·
Most
consecutive Championships, women's (4,2013–2016)
·
Most
consecutive wins, men's or women's (90, 2008–10)
·
Most
consecutive NCAA tournament wins, women's (24)
·
Most 30-win
seasons in NCAA/AIAW play, women's (21)
·
Most
undefeated seasons, men's or women's (6: 1994–95, 2001-02, 2008-09, 2009-10,
2013–14, 2015-2016)
·
Fastest
women's coach to 500 wins, 700 wins, 800 wins, and 900 wins.
·
Fastest
coach to 800 and 900 wins, any level, men's or women's
·
With men's
coaches Jim Calhoun (2004) and Kevin Ollie (2014), the only coaches at the same
Division I school to win the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments in the same
season
·
22
Conference Regular Season Championships (19 Big East, 3 AAC)
·
21
Conference Tournament Championships (18 Big East, 3 AAC)
During
Auriemma’s tenure he’s also developed many individual players. Names Like Rebecca
Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue
Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Stefanie Dolson, Bria
Hartley, Morgan Tuck, Moriah Jefferson, and Breanna Stewart. With Stewart,
Jefferson & Tuck being able to win 4 National Championships together as one
senior class. Stewart being the 1st player in Men’s or Women’s
history to win 4 consecutive Most Outstanding Player Awards (Tournament’s Most
Valuable Player).
UConn’s
dominance looks like a thing of continuation. Will They achieve a 5th
consecutive title? What name will be the next dominant woman at UCONN?
