INDIANAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart and UConn stand alone. Geno Auriemma, too, after another flawless season by the dominating Huskies.
UConn won an unprecedented fourth straight national championship Tuesday night, capping another perfect season by routing Syracuse 82-51. Until now, only the UCLA men’s team had won four in a row in Division I, rolling to seven consecutive championships (1967-73) under John Wooden. With Tuesday’s victory, Auriemma passed the Wizard of Westwood with his 11th national title.
“What those 11 championships mean to me is how many great players I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Auriemma said. “How many great people have come through the program. It doesn’t matter whose name is above, or whose name I’m under. As long as I have those players in my memory, I’m good.”
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Stewart said when she came to campus four years ago that she wanted to win four titles. She delivered on that by scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in her final college game.
“It’s unbelievable,” Stewart said. “That was our goal coming in here, once we were freshmen, and to carry it out and win like this as seniors is unbelievable.”
The Huskies (38-0) have been nearly unbeatable since Stewart arrived. They lost four games her freshman year and only one since tehn. The win over Syracuse was the 75th straight for UConn — all by double figures. Stewart and her fellow seniors went 24-0 in NCAA Tournament games, too.
Stewart earned the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four award all four years of her career. No other women’s player has won it more than twice, and only Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbaar) did it three times on the men’s side.
There is no denying she is the most accomplished player ever, winning more titles than fellow UConn players Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, who watched from the stands at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
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The Huskies scored the first nine points of the game. Stewart had 10 points in the first six minutes as UConn built a 23-6 lead.
The Huskies were up 50-23 at the half and extended the lead to 33 before Syracuse scored 16 straight points to cut the margin to 60-43 with 2:02 left in the third period. Napheesa Collier restored the 20-plus-point lead and UConn cruised from there.
Auriemma has not lost in 11 title appearances. This one gave the Hall of Fame coach a sixth undefeated season.
To win her fourth championship, Stewart had to beat her hometown team. Fourth-seeded Syracuse (30-8) had the best season in school history.
April 5, 2016|Updated April 5, 2016 11:33 p.m.
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