Uconn reigns
In all-Big East final, UConn routs Louisville for NCAA women’s title,
NEW ORLEANS When it was Breanna Stewart’s turn to take a snip of the net after Connecticut won the NCAA women’s basketball title, she probably could have done it without a ladder. Given the impressive heights she reached as a freshman, it’s clear Connecticut’s dynasty isn’t in danger of ending anytime soon.
John Wooden’s legendary run at UCLA, in which he won 10 national titles, has always seemed like one of those records that would stand for basketball eternity.
Then along came Geno Auriemma, who has never lost an NCAA champi- onship game. The Huskies (35-4) won their eighth national title, tying Tennessee’s record, by routing Louisville 93-60 on Tuesday. It was the most lopsided victory in a title game.
“To be there in that spot with her means a lot to me,” Auriemma said about longtime rival Pat Summitt, whose career was cut short after last season by early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Still, he said he didn’t belong to be compared to anyone but Summitt, whom he called “the greatest women’s basketball coach that’s ever lived.”
“I never beat Coach K in a game, never coached against John Wooden,” he said.
With 6-4 Stewart on campus for three more years, there likely will be more hardware in UConn’s immedi- ate future. Stewart, the game’s most outstanding player, was unstoppable, with 23 points and nine rebounds. “If we didn’t have her, we wouldn’t be here,” UConn senior Kelly Faris said.
Not even Louisville men’s coach Rick Pitino, who delivered a pregame pep talk, could lift the Cardinals.
Given the rout, many felt a Baylor-UConn final would have been a much better show. Baylor handed the Huskies one of their four losses this season. (Notre Dame beat UConn three times this season but lost to the Huskies in the national semifinals.)
In January when these two teams last played, the Huskies (minus Stewart, who had an ankle injury) easily dispatched Louisville by 14 points. Since then, Stewart’s dominance has made the Huskies even better. Their relentless defensive pressure wore down the Cardinals. They also beat Louisville at their own game, hitting 13 three-pointers.
Louisville’s only other trip to the title game, in 2009, ended with a loss to UConn. Louisville (29-9) has beaten UConn once — in 1993, the first game of their 14 meetings. Eight of UConn’s wins have been by 20 or more points, none more devastating than Tuesday’s.
As soon as the nets were cut down, the dance party began. As the Huskies headed off the court, they lofted Auriemma on their shoulders. But somehow he ended up horizontal, as if he were crowd surfing. Despite the awkward exit, it didn’t matter. With eight down, two more to go, history is within his reach.