Huskies returns to NCAA tourney in rebuilding year

STORRS, Conn. — UConn’s players heard all the talk. Following four straight national championships, this would be a rebuilding season.

After Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck went 1-3 in the WNBA draft, even coach Geno Auriemma suggested this year’s Huskies could lose six games during a tough non-conference schedule.

Instead, UConn (32-0) enters the NCAA Tournament undefeated for the eighth time, on a 107-game winning streak and as the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed.

“I think the chip on our shoulder helped,” said guard Katie Lou Samuelson. “We always heard how we lost Stewie, Tuck and Mo. We heard about that every single day and that kind of motivated us and pushed us forward.”

UConn will host the first two rounds on campus, about 80 miles north of the regional site in Bridgeport.

The Huskies face 16th-seed Albany (21-11), the champions of the America East conference, in the opening round. No. 9 Duke, No. 4 Maryland and No. 15 UCLA, are the region’s other top seeds.

Despite recent success, Auriemma still worries about how this group, most of whom did not play a big role a year ago, will handle the pressure of elimination games against that kind of competition.

“How will this team react in a big, big, big situation, when it’s their first time facing elimination?” Auriemma said. “Now, everything is riding on them. But it’s been like that all year, so maybe they’ve gotten accustomed to it.”