TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – There are few teams in women’s basketball that have been able to challenge Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies during their unprecedented 20-year run atop the sport.
First it was Pat Summitt and Tennessee. Now it’s Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame.
But the one thing that neither of those programs has been able to do – beat Auriemma when it matters most. His Huskies are 9-0 in national championship games and one win away from a 10th.
“This isn’t something that’s going to last forever,” Auriemma said. “Not going to win every single championship game that we’re in. If we’re in some more, but up to this point, it’s something that’s really hard to explain.”
Before winning his first championship in 1995, Auriemma, with his Philadelphia brashness, went right after the queen of women’s basketball. The Tennessee and UConn programs carried the flag for over a decade, playing on national television to record ratings during the regular season and then usually meeting with a national championship on the line.