Huskies Prepared To Continue AAC Dominance

By Bob Phillips

Geno Auriemma shouts directions to Napheesa Collier (left) and Katie
Lou Samuelson (middle).

UNCASVILLE—As the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team embarks on its quest to defend its fifth consecutive American Athletic Conference championship (indeed, no other team has ever won the AAC tourney meaning), an uninitiated observer may, at first glance, believe there may be an upset in the making when the Huskies take on Tulane tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The reason being that yesterday’s cornucopia of upsets.

The first round tipped off with Temple, the tourney’s No. 11 seed, surprising No. 6 Wichita State, 72-59. Then, after No. 7 ECU held serve over No. 10 SMU, 85-74, the carousel of upsets continued with No. 9 Tulane delivering a mind surprise over No. 8 Memphis, 76-64. The first round concluded with the biggest upset of the day, a shocking 98-72 victory by No. 12 Tulsa over No. 5 Houston.

I would give you some details on the yesterday’s first round action, except that nothing that happened has any bearing on UConn’s performance in the quarterfinals tonight, the semi-finals tomorrow night, or the finals on Tuesday. And here’s why:

• UConn has won four straight American championships. Indeed, the Huskies are the only team to ever win the AAC’s postseason tourney, which means, of course, they have never lost a game therein.
• Today’s game vs. Tulane will be played at Connecticut’s “home away from home” in front of a jam-packed partisan crowd screaming for their beloved Huskies from start to finish.
• This is the Huskies’ 10th undefeated regular season.
• Of the seven players selected for the AAC First Team, four are Huskies—seniors Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams, and juniors Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Indeed, among the three remaining members, of the First Team there is another “Connecticut Connection.” Temple senior Tanaya Atkinson is a New Haven native and a graduate of Career High School in the Elm City.
• UConn has won 140 of its past 141 games including all 98 American Athletic Conference games in that stretch.
• The Huskies lead all Division 1 teams in both points per game (with a 90.7 average) and margin of victory (an astounding 37.7).
• Besides UConn, the rest of the American isn’t very good. Only one other conference member (USF) is ranked in the Top 25. Although the Bulls sport a 24-6 overall record and 13-3 record in the AAC, they occupy a low-rent spot on the list at No. 20.
• The Huskies are 2-0 vs. USF this year, including a 29-point thrashing in the AAC regular-season finale this past Monday at Gampel Pavilion.
• The entire UConn second team would start on virtually every other American team.

Somewhat unheralded senior Gabby Williams nonetheless was named
to the American Athletic Conference First Team.

Indeed, if you aren’t an ardent Husky fan, games can be pretty boring. Most of UConn’s opponents are done by the end of the first quarter; and virtually all are through by the time they reach the locker room at intermission. That can be brutal on TV ratings. An argument can be made that in this regard, the Huskies are bad—very bad—for women’s college basketball. Not so much because of its spotless record, but because of their utter dominance of the competition—or, more to the point, lack thereof.

Of course, “experts” will point to last year’s “shocking” upset by Mississippi State in last year’s Final Four. The fact is that game was a fairly even matchup won by the Bulldogs when then-junior Morgan William, a 5-5 sparkplug point guard, put up a 15-foot fadeaway jumper that saw nothing but net as time expired to send the bewildered Huskies home. Some accuse the Huskies of being asleep at the wheel during that game.

Make no mistake: No one will be sleeping this season

“This was the hardest year I’ve had the last four or five years, easy,” said UConn’s Hall-of-Fame head coach Auriemma. Of course he did. “There hasn't been another one that's close,” continued Auriemma, trying to convince anyone who would listen. “There was a lot of stuff we had to deal with, and there were times when our record was the furthest thing from my mind and our players’ minds. Every practice was a loss. Every game was a loss. Every film session was a loss. Everything felt like we were losing, because everything was a struggle. And maybe you have to go through those times, so you can appreciate what you do, come back and go, ‘Wow, in the middle of all that we went 29-0.’”

To which this reporter humbly replies, “Seriously, coach?”

Huskies Rule Conference Awards Awards

Besides the aforementioned fact that four Huskies were named to the seven-member All-AAC First Team, several Connecticut players earned individual honors, including:

• Katie Lou Samuelson, Player of the Year
• Kia Nurse, Defensive Player of the Year
• Junior transfer student (from Duke) Azura Stevens, Newcomer of the Year
• Sophomore point guard Crystal Dangerfield. All-Conference Third Team

In a somewhat surprising move, USF’s Jose Fernandez broke Auriemma’s four-year run as the AAC’s Coach of the Year. Perhaps it was thought that UConn’s overwhelming advantage in talent meant that Auriemma could have slept through every game without it having an affect on the Huskies’ dominance—an argument not without credence.

—with staff reports