It says everything about UConn's Geno Auriemma that a list of his biggest wins could include only National championship games. He has won 11 NCAA titles, more than any other Division I men's or women's basketball coach.
On Wednesday, Auriemma could rise to the top of the list for most wins, period. With a victory over Fairleigh Dickinson at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, Auriemma will surpass retired Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer with her 1,217th victory. VanDerveer passed Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski (1,202 wins) in January.
When Auriemma took over the Huskies in 1985, the program had only had one winning season (16-14) in its 11-year history. The NCAA tournament had existed for only four years for women. The sport had very little visibility.
It took Auriemma six years to reach his first Final Four, in 1991, and 10 years to win his first championship, in 1995. Now in his 40th season in Storrs, his career mark is 1,216-162. His Huskies have reached the Final Four 23 times and have had six perfect seasons.
Their teams have been part of women's basketball's biggest rivalries over the past 30 years, first with Tennessee, then Notre Dame and now South Carolina. Auriemma has coached Team USA to two Olympic gold medals. Its former players have led the way in the Olympic Games and the WNBA. Current Huskies star Paige Bueckers is projected to be the league's No. 1 pick in April.
Yes, a list of the best wins of Auriemma's UConn career could consist of only NCAA title games. But other victories along the way, some of them defining moments for the program, have also had special meaning. Here are the 12 largest.
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UConn in search of title number 12
Take a look at UConn women's basketball's incredible winning history as head coach Geno Auriemma and star Paige Bueckers look to put the Huskies back on top.
12. Consecutive perfection
April 6, 2010: 53-47 over Stanford
It was an ugly game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, but a great final result for the Huskies. Led by Tina Charles and Maya Moore, UConn finished an unprecedented second straight perfect season in NCAA women's basketball by beating the Cardinal in the national championship game.
The Huskies rallied from a woeful 20-12 halftime deficit; 53 is the lowest point total of any of UConn's championship game wins. (In the Huskies' only loss in the NCAA finals, to South Carolina in 2022, they scored 49 points.) The bottom line: The Huskies found a way to win.
11. “We have Diana”
April 6, 2003: 71-69 over Texas
The Huskies made a stirring comeback in the NCAA semifinals to earn Auriemma's 500th career victory. UConn had lost four senior stars to the WNBA from the previous season's undefeated team, but the Huskies still had Diana Taurasi. The Longhorns led by nine points with 12½ minutes left, but Taurasi's 3-pointer with just over two minutes left gave UConn the lead for good. He finished with 26 points and the Huskies defeated Tennessee 73-68 in the final. And it was at the March that Auriemma spoke six words that summed up 2002-03: “We have Diana and you don't.”
10. The Knoxville Partygoers
January 6, 1996: 59-53 over Tennessee
This game marked the third meeting of the series with Tennessee; The Huskies won the first two last season at home in Storrs and on a neutral court in Minneapolis. This time, as defending national champions, they entered enemy territory and ended the Lady Vols' 69-game winning streak at home. UConn won on defense, holding Tennessee scoreless for a six-minute period near the end of the game that featured 21 lead changes.
9. Bueckers has the answers
March 28, 2022: 91-87 over NC State, 2OT
The 2022 Final Four was played in Minneapolis, the hometown of guard Paige Bueckers. To get there, she and the Huskies had to survive the Wolfpack, the No. 1 seed in the regional final, in double overtime in an instant classic. UConn was the second seed, but had the advantage of playing in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It took 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from Bueckers, plus 21 points from Christyn Williams and 19 from Azzi Fudd, for UConn to prevail.
8. Celebration of the local championship
April 2, 2000: 71-52 over Tennessee
This victory gave UConn its second NCAA title and came in Philadelphia, Auriemma's hometown. The rivalry with Tennessee had reached a red-hot state, but entering this game, the Lady Vols had six NCAA titles to UConn's one. Led by juniors Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova and sophomores Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Asjha Jones, UConn was nearly perfect in 1999-2000. The Huskies' only loss was to Tennessee 72-71 on February 2, 2000, in Storrs. UConn got revenge in Philadelphia.
7. Season of Firsts, Part 1
February 18, 1989: 70-65 over Providence
Once upon a time, winning a conference title wasn't a foregone conclusion for the Huskies — it was cause for celebration. UConn captured its first Big East regular-season championship with this victory in a season of firsts.
The Huskies beat the Friars again two weeks later to capture their first Big East tournament title, earning UConn's first NCAA tournament bid. It was also the first season the Huskies won at least 20 games (24-6) and the first time the program had the Big East player of the year (Kerry Bascom).
6. The legend of Stewie begins
April 7, 2013: 83-65 over Notre Dame
Breanna Stewart announced her intention to win four titles when she arrived at UConn. He made it, but the first was the most challenging because of the semifinal foe: Notre Dame had defeated UConn three times that season. After losing to the Irish in the Big East tournament final, Auriemma told his despondent team that he would show them how to win the NCAA title. Then a freshman, Stewart scored 29 points and four blocked shots against Notre Dame, and then UConn won the championship in New Orleans with a 33-point rout of Louisville.
5. Season of Firsts, Part 2
March 23, 1991: 60-57 over Clemson
The Huskies earned their first win over a ranked team in December of that season and then won their first NCAA tournament in March. They rode that momentum all the way to their first Final Four. It came with this win in Philadelphia over Clemson. Bascom scored 22 points, making 7 of 8 free throws in the last 1:09 of the game. Clemson cut the Huskies' lead to 59-57 with six seconds left, but Meghan Pattyson's free throw gave UConn a three-point lead. Then the Tigers missed a desperation 3-pointer.
4. Stewie seals his legacy
April 5, 2016: 82-51 over Syracuse
The Huskies battled their way to a perfect season, defeating the Orange in the NCAA finals in Indianapolis. Stewart won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award for the fourth time. The team's 38-0 mark was part of UConn's record 111-game winning streak that began in 2014 and ended in the 2017 national semifinal.
3. The best team of all time?
March 31, 2002: 82-70 over Oklahoma
The Huskies put the finishing touches on a 39-0 season at the Alamodome against the Sooners, winning Auriemma's third NCAA title. Seniors Bird, Cash, Jones and Tamika Williams, who were selected in the first round of the 2002 WNBA draft, joined then-sophomore Taurasi in what many consider the best starting five in the history of women's college basketball.
2. The rivalry begins
January 16, 1995: 77-66 over Tennessee
This game, celebrated on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and nationally televised that Monday afternoon, was the first meeting of what became a legendary rivalry in college sports. The Associated Press delayed the vote by a day (normally held Sunday night) to take into account the outcome of the game. The Lady Vols were 16-0 and ranked No. 1, the Huskies were 12-0 and ranked No. 2.
UConn led 41-33 at halftime and never allowed Tennessee to get closer than four points in the second half. Kara Wolters scored a team-high 18 points, Jennifer Rizzotti had 17 and Rebecca Lobo had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocked shots. UConn fans didn't want to leave Gampel Pavilion when it was over.
1. We are the champions
April 2, 1995: 70-64 over Tennessee
The Auriemma dynasty officially began with this victory, as the Huskies finished a 35-0 season with their first championship. The final in Minneapolis was UConn's second-closest game that season; The closest had come in the regional final, 67-63 over Virginia. UConn defeated Stanford in the national semifinals and Tennessee did the same to Georgia. It set up a rematch of the January showdown that had received so much attention.
This was the last season in which the Women's Final Four games were played on consecutive days, so there was little preparation time for the final. Tennessee led by six at halftime, as Lobo battled foul trouble in the first half. But he scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half, and Rizzotti added 15. The championship elevated UConn to a full-fledged phenomenon that remains nearly 30 years later.
