UConn women get back to work against Tulane
Huskies are 98-0 all-time since joining the AAC
Mohegan — UConn is 98-0 all-time since joining the American Athletic Conference, 86-0 in the regular season and 12-0 in winning four straight league tournaments.
Geno Auriemma, the Hall of Fame coach, describes that as a “phenomenon.”
“You don't explain that phenomenon. I don't think you can explain it,” Auriemma said early Saturday morning at Mohegan Sun's Cabaret Theatre, before leaving for the Huskies' practice. “Even by accident, somebody has a great night and you have a bad night, you should be in trouble.”
While Auriemma knows all the pitfalls involving the postseason, an untimely loss rarely ever happens to the UConn women's basketball team.
“I think you just marvel at these guys,” the coach said, "that day in and day out, when it's game time, they say, 'What do we have to do tonight to win?' Very rarely have we ever just thrown in the towel.”
Top-seeded UConn (29-0) will vie to keep its record intact as the only team ever to win the American tournament when it begins play with a quarterfinal-round matchup against No. 9 Tulane (13-16) at 6:30 p.m. today (ESPNU).
UConn beat Tulane twice during the regular season, 98-45 Jan. 27 at Gampel Pavilion and 91-47 Feb. 21 in
New Orleans.
The Huskies have beaten South Florida in the championship game the last three seasons, winning 100-44 last season after tournament Most Outstanding Player Katie Lou Samuelson went 10-for10 from 3-point range and etched a 40-point performance into the record books.
UConn has had all five AAC players of the year. Breanna Stewart won three times, followed by Samuelson and Napheesa Collier sharing the award in 2017. Samuelson won the award on her own Saturday morning, averaging 18.3 points per game this season and leading the nation in 3-point percentage at .490 (72-for-147).
The Huskies have had all five AAC defensive players of the year: Stefanie Dolson, Kiah Stokes, Moriah Jefferson, Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse.
And the Huskies have claimed the tournament's Most Outstanding Player each year, with Stewart winning in 2014 and 2016 and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis taking the honor in 2015.
“It's always fun to come back here and remember that game,” Samuelson said of last year's 3-point hail storm at Mohegan Sun. “This tournament has some really good memories."
Added Samuelson: "You can tell the difference in all the players who have been through March . ... It's time to clean things up.”
It's likely that mentality which keeps top-ranked UConn around so long this time of year, despite the things Auriemma is paid to worry about, such as the near twoweek layoff between the league championship and the NCAA tournament and having to play conference teams — and nonconference teams, for that matter — over and over again.
“Every team we're going to be playing it will be for the third time,” Auriemma said. “You have to say, 'Well, this isn't just another regular-season game. There's a championship at stake.' … It forces you to just look one day at a time.
“We have the most talented team here, so that goes a long way, but one team doesn't have to play a best-of-five against us; they only need to win one.”
Tulane, which defeated No. 8 Memphis 76-64 in the first round Saturday, was led during the regular season by 2,000-point scorer Kolby Morgan, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, with 19.2 points per game.
Earlier this week, Morgan scored 16 points in the fourth quarter of a 52-46 victory over Southern Methodist, during which she became Tulane's all-time leader in field goals made. v.fulkerson@theday.com