Uconn, Notre Dame meet again
Rivals tangle for spot in the NCAA Tournament final
There’s a different vibe around Geno Auriemma and his Uconn Huskies at this year’s Final Four. Unlike the previous two years, they don’t have the burden of a record winning streak or an unbeaten season.
One thing is familiar for the Huskies (35-2), however: They have to beat rival Notre Dame (34-3) to reach the championship game.
Baylor (35-1) meets Oregon (33-4) in the first semifinal.
Heading into their showdown with rival Irish on Friday night, the Huskies have already lost two games this season and don’t have as Auriemma put it “the fear of losing” this year.
“Our players have already experienced something different than they’ve experienced the other couple years,” he said. “Any other team in America, they lose the game, it’s in the newspaper tomorrow, probably on page 4, or can’t find it on dot-com anywhere. We lose a game, it’s at Baylor, it’s on the CBS Evening News. Our kids have experienced that dramatic feeling of, Oh, my God, we lost . ... I think there’s this sense coming out here this year, What’s the big deal?”
Auriemma said the experience has made his squad stronger mentally.
“For the first time, I can honestly say in a long time, in the UCLA, second half, and the Louisville game, I was coaching a Connecticut team that wasn’t burdened by afraid to lose and was playing to win,” he said.
Besides the losses, Uconn had to rally a few times to pull out victories.
“We’ve had more close games this year than we have in all my years combined,” Uconn senior Napheesa Collier said. “Again, that experience really does help you because you’re not in that position for the first time on the biggest stage in the biggest game.”
Collier and classmate Katie Lou Samuelson have been to the national semifinals in each of their four years at Uconn as part of the Huskies’ record 12 consecutive year run to the Final Four. Both players feel a sense of urgency knowing this is their last go-round no matter what happens Friday night.
“It’s kind of unbelievable in some ways because it feels like the Uconn jersey is one we’ve been wearing forever. It seems like while you’re playing here, that’s never going to end,” Samuelson said. “You always are going to play another game, have another practice. The fact that it is kind of the end of the road, we just want to go out and give everything we have because we know this could be one of the last few chances we get to wear the Uconn jersey.” Awards: Megan Gustafson rewrote the women’s basketball record book at Iowa. The 6-foot-3 center led the nation in scoring for the second straight season, averaging 27.9 points, and became the fourth player to reach 1,000 points in a year. On Thursday, she won The Associated Press women’s college basketball Player of the Year award. Led by Gustafson, the Hawkeyes reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1993. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was also honored Thursday, taking the AP Coach of the Year award for the second time. She has led top-ranked Baylor to a 35-1 record and helped the Lady Bears reach the Final Four.