JEFF JACOBS

Reality bites Auriemma, UConn women

There is a perception that everything is easy and nothing ever goes wrong in Geno Auriemma’s world.

This is the reality. After Arike Ogunbowale ended UConn’s season, after an unbeaten UConn team was eliminated from the Final Four for the second year in a row on a last-second overtime basket, Geno’s mom was leaving Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Marciella, the source of Auriemma’s unbending belief in strong women, tripped and fell late Friday night.

“She didn’t see the curb and landed on the pavement,” Auriemma said. “There were no broken bones, which is amazing for an 86-year-old. But she was banged up and her blood pressure was all over the place.”

Marciella remained in a Columbus hospital Friday and Saturday night. Her son did not return to Connecticut until Sunday.

“My mom’s fine, she’s back home,” Auriemma said. “Not the best weekend in the world for the Auriemma family, let’s just say.”

On Monday, it didn’t get better. Azura Stevens surprised Auriemma by announcing she was foregoing her final year of college eligibility to enter the WNBA draft. In the school’s release, Auriemma wished Stevens the best. He had nothing to add Tuesday.

So allow me.

Bad decision, Azura. After sitting out a transfer year, Stevens became a more formidable inside presence. She didn’t shoot from the perimeter nearly as well she can. Yes, she is a spectacular work in progress. Another year of evolution and with all the minutes she needed, she could have come out of college as the female Kevin Durant. She could have been the college player of the year and a national champion. She could have been the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. This would have brought her much fame and more money.

But, hey, whoever is whispering in her ear has a better plan.

“Unless you win on the final weekend, it’s an aw-

ful feeling,” Auriemma said. “This is an awful feeling. I can’t believe it happened the same way two years in a row. But for everything you hit yourself over the head with a hammer, you try to console yourself by asking, ‘Did you really think you were going to win six national championships in a row?’

“We’re doing things that are so unrealistic that when reality does happen, some people can’t deal with it. Every game we win, the narrative is we have all the best players. You lose three games in four years, all three in overtime, you got outcoached. That’s the world we live in. I’m OK with it. I just think it’s kind of comical.”

The Huskies had only two tight games before the Final Four. They erased an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter without Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams to beat Notre Dame in December. They beat Texas by four on the road.

So what is the requisite number of close games? And how do you guarantee them? The Huskies played nine games against the top 13 teams in the final AP poll. They were second in strength of schedule. They were able to spread out non-conference games against South Carolina and Louisville in February and played Duke and South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament before Notre Dame. Still, do weeks of those 40point AAC blowouts have a numbing effect on the team? I think they do. I think the conference schedule is a problem.

Auriemma said the team simulated more lategame situations this year, often against male practice players, than in the past 10 years combined. Short of putting the New York Liberty on the schedule, there’s only so much you can do.

And let’s be honest about another thing. It was Notre Dame that kicked away a five-point lead in the final 21 seconds of regulation at the Final Four. It was UConn that ran a well-conceived play out of a timeout and Williams got the ball 1-on-1 in the lane with 3.6 seconds left. She rushed a bank shot instead of going right at the hoop. She didn’t draw a foul or make the basket. Ogunbowale gets a handoff from Marina Mabrey out near halfcourt with nine seconds left in overtime and fires a long shot over the outstretched hand of Napheesa Collier with a second left.

It can be serendipitous. Yet if Williams’ shot went in, you know what the narrative would be? The UConn women are bad for the sport.

After Stevens turned the game around with her dominating play in the second quarter, I thought Auriemma should have started her after halftime instead of waiting until 3:35 left in the third. Put the pedal to the floor. He disagreed.

“I never gave it a single thought,” Auriemma said. “We were up eight in the fourth quarter. So I guess things turned out pretty well. You go with what you were doing.

“When we sub and they sub, I think we have a huge advantage. Having said that, Azura struggled some in the second half, because the big kids started beating the (heck) out of her. Now, if you said to me you should have given Lou a breather, I would have said you are absolutely right.”

That was our second point. Samuelson, firstteam All-American and leading scorer, got her fourth foul with 4:54 left. She took only three shots in the second half and one in the final 10 minutes, none in overtime. What the heck happened to her?

“I’m always thinking positive during the game,” Auriemma said. “I’m trying to overlook how ineffective she was defensively, trying to overlook everything except in a three-minute span she can go for 3-for-3 and that nine-point run is going to win it for us. Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job of getting her the ball.”

Auriemma made a list. Did you run enough things for her? How were they guarding her? Did she work really hard to get her shot? Auriemma said all three matters came into play.

“With Gabby and Napheesa, we had an advantage inside,” he said. “But we should have worked harder to get Lou more shots. We knew we would have to outscore them. And the hardest thing to do in the Final Four is make shots.”

When you do, you are national champions two of three years like Villanova.

“Jay Wright is terrible for the game,” Auriemma joked. “Not for nothing, eight of the last nine championships (including six in a row on the women’s side) have been won by Philadelphia coaches.

“Muffet [McGraw] did a phenomenal job. I thought she did the best job of anybody in the country. And Notre Dame’s going to be even better next year.”

Without Stevens, UConn won’t be picked to win the 2019 national title. I asked Auriemma if transfers are less invested in a program and more likely to leave early.

“I think each case is different,” Auriemma said.

In this case, Azura Stevens leaves without a national championship. That is reality.