All season long, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma has denied that this season’s undefeated team is “better” than last season’s 37-3 national championship team. Following Sunday’s 70-52 win over rival Notre Dame, however, he did hand out one superlative to this year’s squad.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to take a team to the Final Four than this one,” Auriemma said in postgame remarks to the crowd.
Auriemma elaborated in the press conference: “I am really proud of them because getting all the way to this point undefeated is a lot of baggage to carry, right?
“I mean, every day somebody is coming after you to break your streak … you have to carry that we’re undefeated. So I’m really proud of the way they’ve handled all this and how they don’t let it bother them. They don’t get caught up in anything other than, ‘What do we have to do today?'”
Unlike some of his other teams, this year’s roster lacks the edge of the Huskies’ historically-great teams. This group, which is two wins away from clinching the program’s seventh undefeated season, is characterized by connectedness and quiet confidence.
“We don’t walk around with that attitude like Jamelle Elliott and Jen Rizzotti did back then or Sue [Bird], [Diana Taurasi], and Asjha [Jones], Swin [Cash], and Tamika [Williams]. They walked around like, what did you think we were going to lose? Maya [Moore], Tina [Charles], Renee [Montgomery], [Breanna Stewart], they walked around like why are you surprised we’re undefeated?
“This group, they don’t have that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality. That’s why I think for me I just keep my fingers crossed because it’s not the kind of team that I’ve had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It’s not. They don’t have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court. They’re just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.”
Unlike past seasons, with swaggy, hard-nosed players like Nika Mühl and Paige Bueckers setting the tone, the tone-setter for this year’s team is cool-as-a-cucumber sophomore Sarah Strong. Strong doesn’t play a super flashy style of basketball nor is she one to flaunt her natural talent and elite skillset on the court.
“When people do too much on the basketball court, that really, that’s what gets me there,” Strong said earlier this month. “I only get started if someone else gets started, I want to make that clear. Because I try not to yell, ‘And-one!’ or little things. Like, don’t talk trash to me, because I’m just gonna take it too far.”
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Strong’s style is less flash, more fundamental. She wants to contribute to winning, and does so on both ends of the court. She’s the BIG EAST Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and has an all-around game that never seems to get shaky in the big moments.
“There is a level of confidence that Sarah has that I think she lifts them up to someplace where they wouldn’t be able to be by themselves or with maybe somebody different,” Auriemma told reporters.
“So they play with confidence knowing they have her, and that’s probably the best compliment that I can give her.”
All season long, the Huskies have worn teams down with their elite defensive intensity and preparation. They rise to the standards that have been laid by generations of teams before them — and UConn’s coaching staff makes sure of that. Despite ongoing commentary all season about their strength of their schedule, the Huskies looked plenty battle-tested in tough moments in the regionals against North Carolina and Notre Dame.
“As far as adversity goes, I would say the adversity is me, right? Every day for five months they have to put up with me, so I try to be for them all the things that can happen at this time of the year that you need to be prepared for. … This team no matter what I throw at them, they always just go, ‘All right, we got this.'”
While the standards set by Auriemma and his staff are as high as ever, the 72-year-old head coach acknowledges that his approach has had to change with the times. He knows that sometimes pushing hard isn’t always what his team needs, and instead takes a gentler approach.
“I’ve noticed that when things are starting to go sideways … I can make it worse if I pour it on,” Auriemma said following last month’s win over legacy rival Tennessee.. “They’re already frustrated with how it’s going, and if I pour it on, they just get worse and worse and worse.”
The 41-year head coach also brings a lightness and grandfatherly energy at this phase of his career. He often playfully picks on his star players when speaking to media, and will jump in to silly TikToks being created by his players. On Sunday in Forth Worth, following the win, he put on a cowboy hat and did a dance mimicking a cowboy riding a horse.
“Seeing him excited and kind of goofy is really good for us, because I don’t know, he’s not usually like that,” Strong told reporters postgame. “He’s usually all serious or like anxious, grumpy. Just seeing him let loose and be his true self was really good.”
While the general demeanor of this year’s UConn team is unique, they ended in a familiar place: a Final Four, the program’s 25th total. They did it their own way: building chemistry through silliness and a genuine sense of gratitude to be teammates.
“I’m just happy. I’m just grateful to be here,” said freshman Blanca Quiñonez postgame. [To] share this Final Four with this team and my teammates is something special. We really work hard during the season. … I’m just really excited and grateful.”
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The IX Sports’ Kathleen Gier and Arie Graham contributed reporting for this story.
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