Coach Geno Auriemma, player of the year Sue Bird and the rest of the No. 1-ranked Connecticut Huskies are unbeaten, experienced, poised, skilled and unselfish.
The Huskies are so good they start four Associated Press All-Americans: Bird at point guard on the AP’s first team, forward Swin Cash and guard Diana Taurasi on the second team and forward Asjha Jones on the third team.
But are the Huskies the best team that ever played women’s college basketball?
In order to finish 39-0 and match the best women’s record of Tennessee’s 1998 NCAA champs, the Huskies must beat coach Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols in Friday night’s NCAA semifinal, then beat the Oklahoma-Duke survivor in Sunday night’s title game.
Connecticut, which has made the Final Four a third straight season, is seeking to be the fourth team in the 20-year history of the women’s NCAA tournament to cap an unbeaten season by winning the title. The others were Texas 34-0 in 1986, Connecticut 35-0 in 1995 and Tennessee 39-0 in 1998.
The three previous undefeated champs had three things in common. Each was superbly coached, had multiple stars and rolled through the NCAA tournament winning by more than 20 points per game.
Here is a look at the three previous winners and a closer look at the 2002 Huskies and their chances of becoming the fourth unbeaten NCAA champ:
– Tennessee 1998: The Vols won their third straight NCAA title and Summitt’s sixth as coach by featuring three All-Americans–6-foot-2-inch Chamique Holdsclaw, 6-2 Tamika Catchings and guard Semeka Randall. They combined for 62 points in the 93-75 title victory over Louisiana Tech.
“They are the greatest team ever to play the game,” said Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore.
– Connecticut 1995: Auriemma’s first NCAA championship team had the height his current team lacks. Rebecca Lobo at 6-4 and 6-7 Kara Wolters were All-Americans. So was brilliant point guard Jennifer Rizzotti, with whom Bird is being compared today.
– Texas 1986: Clarissa Davis was only a freshman when she scored 32 points against Louisiana Tech and 24 in the title game against Southern Cal in her Final Four games for coach Jody Conrad’s team. Sophomore Fran Harris joined Davis on the all-Final Four team.
How good are the current Huskies?
“Their first five are the best I’ve seen,” said longtime Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry after Monday night’s loss to Connecticut in the Mideast Regional title game in Milwaukee. “Bird’s passing was phenomenal. She led her troops with a passion.”
Bird had 10 assists and scored a career-high 26 points in that game. Backcourt mate Taurasi, a sophomore and the only non-senior starter, scored 22, dished off eight assists and, after Larry called her the team’s weak link on defense, made five steals.
Auriemma hesitated–for now–to call Bird the best point guard he has coached or to name the Bird-Taurasi combo his best backcourt.
“Maybe I’ll say that after this week,” said Auriemma. “I’ll say this about Sue Bird: Jennifer Rizzotti was stronger, and Rita Williams (who played in the late ’90s) was a better defender. But Sue does more things well than Jennifer or Rita did.”
Connecticut’s three 6-2 front-line starters–Cash, Jones and Tamika Williams–made huge defensive contributions to the unbeaten record. Cash and Williams are so quick on the wings that the Huskies, in effect, play with four guards. Jones in the middle has been invaluable calling switches and identifying screens.
Perhaps Connecticut’s two greatest strengths are its experience and unselfish play.
“As freshmen and sophomores we may have panicked,” Bird said of some tough moments in the regional victory over Penn State. “But we’re so experienced now. We know we’re going to go on a run. We stay patient and work for it to come.
“And I think we have the attitude that we are all willing to give up something for the good of the team.
“As talented as we are, add to it that attitude, and that is a really good formula.”
The Huskies aren’t perfect. They lack a 6-5 post player such as Tennessee’s Michelle Snow or Gwen Jackson. And they lack the depth of a team such as Tennessee. So foul trouble might hurt Connecticut, whose regulars have been playing 30 minutes or more per game in the tournament.
In complete control
Connecticut is winning its NCAA tournament games by a bigger margin than the three unbeaten teams in women’s history:
TEAM YR REC PPG OPP MAR
Texas 1986 34-0 89.2 67.0 22.2
UConn 1995 35-0 84.0 60.5 23.5
Tenn. 1998 39-0 88.5 63.5 25.0
UConn 2002 37-0 84.8 53.3 31.5
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