Like he has throughout his career, Geno Auriemma stands alone in college basketball.
The No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights 85-41 at Gampel Pavilion. While the 44-point victory pushed Connecticut to 4-0 on the young season, Wednesday night was anything but ordinary.
On a night celebrating his and Chris Dailey’s 40th anniversary coaching the team, Auriemma picked up career win number 1,217. The victory makes him the winningest coach in college basketball history, surpassing Basketball Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer. While he could not plan 40 years ahead, the six-time USBWA Coach of the Year made reaching the mark a reality with one mentality.
“It is about coming here every day and trying to be better than we were yesterday,” Auriemma noted while addressing the crowd following his record-breaking triumph. “It is the things that [the players] ended up getting when they came here that made it worthwhile to keep staying here. The more that we stayed, the more they came.”
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Win No. 1,217 was not necessarily the prettiest in the eight-time Naismith Coach of the Year’s storied career. The Huskies shot 45.1% from the field on 71 attempts and 32.3% from downtown. Rather than their offense, UConn succeeded behind their 45 rebounds and a lockdown defense that picked up 12 steals and forced 18 turnovers.
Although he focuses more on the next game than the milestone itself, the 11-time national champion has reflected on becoming college basketball’s winningest individual.
“It makes me appreciate all of the things that have happened in the past,” he told SNY postgame. “You do not notice it along the way; you just do it.”
Auriemma and Dailey were not the only individuals generating hype going into Wednesday night’s contest.
Redshirt junior Azzi Fudd returned to the court for the first time in 374 days. In just 12 minutes, Fudd made one field goal on a breakaway basket and scored four points. She accounted for nearly 20% of the team’s 22 bench points.
“Azzi makes us whole. It gives us those three things [great inside play, a good wing player and a really good guard] that we need,” the nine-time AP Coach of the Year stated in his postgame press conference. “When we get her fully acclimated, we are a different team.”
Every starter scored at least six points, grabbed a rebound and dished out an assist. Two-time Big East Freshman of the Week Sarah Strong led the Huskies in two of those categories while putting herself on triple-double watch. Strong scored a game-high 20 points (14 in the second half), snagged eight rebounds and picked up six assists. Beyond her four defensive boards, the North Carolina native swatted two shots and collected two steals.
Only Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen recorded more swipes while scoring all 11 of her points in the first half. In 26 minutes, the graduate guard spearheaded a relentless defense and an offense that gained steam in the second half.
Big East Player of the Week Paige Bueckers also contributed everywhere on the floor, especially when her shots were not falling early on. Despite shooting just 6-13, Bueckers picked up 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Ashlynn Shade rounded out Connecticut’s starters with six points and three offensive boards.
Two-time Northeast Conference Freshman of the Week Ava Renninger helped Fairleigh Dickinson show some fight. Renninger shot 3-6 from downtown and 8-17 overall while dropping a team-high 19 points. Two other Knights, Teneisia Brown and Abaigeal Babore, combined with the freshman guard to score 36 of the team’s 41 points.
Both graduate students packed an early punch in the opening minutes. Despite their early buckets, however, the Huskies consistently remained ahead with a tenacious effort on the glass.
Shade grabbed two rebounds before scoring all six of her points on two triples. Bueckers herself hauled in five before scoring UConn’s last points of the first quarter. Despite their offensive woes, the capacity crowd had plenty to cheer for when Fudd’s checked in after the media timeout.
The Huskies’ shooting struggles worsened early in the second, yet their tight defense widened the gap and forced an FDU timeout. Chen took over with the two-time WBCA All-American on the bench halfway through the frame. The Princeton transfer’s two layups started a half-ending 12-2 run and gave Connecticut a 45-22 halftime lead over the Knights.
Bueckers scored seven points in those first 20 minutes; she matched that with each of the Huskies’ first seven in the second half. Chen's two steals set Strong up with the team's next five points, resulting in Fairleigh Dickinson burning their second timeout.
UConn had gone on a 10-0 run up to that point; they expanded it to 20 over the next three minutes. Although Babore ended that run, Fudd closed the quarter with a steal and a fast break layup.
Six different players scored for the Huskies in the final frame; each of them made exactly one field goal and took no more than three shots. The two-time Big East Player of the Year spent the entire period on the sidelines with a whiteboard in her hands. While she drew up plays, Connecticut’s bench helped secure the program’s second-ever triumph over the Knights.
At the end of the day, Auriemma’s success has come down to that of his 160 players. Four former players shared their stories in that postgame ceremony; Bueckers summarized the ones she and her 13 teammates have been writing.
“To be a part of history; a part of their story; a part of their legendary program that they have built, it is what we all came here to be a part of,” the two-time Big East Player of the Year explained. “We are extremely grateful for it.”
The Huskies head down to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Women’s Championship. UConn’s first of two games in the MTE comes against the Oregon State Beavers on Monday. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. EST on FloHoops and the UConn Sports Network.
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