UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma made history Wednesday night with the Huskies’ win over Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Auriemma became the all-time wins leader in college basketball history for both men and women, collecting her 1,217 victories to pass Tara VanDerveer, the legendary Stanford Cardinal coach.
More than 60 former players were at Gampel Pavilion as part of a sellout crowd to watch the Huskies defeat the Knights, 85-41. Despite UConn being the heavy favorite in this matchup, Auriemma continued to coach like 1,216 victories before it, until the final buzzer sounded.
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Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reacts during the first quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
The game was also to celebrate Auriemma and fellow head coach Chris Dailey’s 40th season leading the Huskies. It was part of a celebration that included a petting zoo near the stadium during a fan fest, a reference to the greatest Auriemma of all time.
While the night was meant to honor Auriemma and Dailey, the record-setting win led to a reflection on how dominant his program has been at UConn over the years.
GENO AURIEMMA TIES DIVISION I COACH RECORD AS NO. 2 CONN BEATS NO. 14 UNC 69-58
The Huskies are 11-time national champions who have made 23 of their last four appearances, including 15 of the last 16 years.
Auriemma’s .882 career winning percentage remains an NCAA record as well.
“In the beginning, we just had our vision and each other said, ‘This is what we’re going to do,'” Dailey said Tuesday, via ESPN. “And we were able to convince enough people to believe in that dream. And, in the end, 40 years later, more has happened than we thought there would.”
Paige Bueckers and head coach Geno Auriemma of the Connecticut Huskies during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament at the Moda Center on March 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Auriemma has only coached at one school, building his team in Storrs to the point where it was nationally recognized as the headquarters for decades. After the team’s first national title under Auriemma in 1995, UConn was, and still is, a powerhouse all season long.
Auriemma, 70, still wants to coach the Huskies, although he admitted that sometimes he feels it’s the right move to leave.
“As long as I’m here, and I’m walking in this building, and I’m seeing the players here, and I’m seeing the people working in my little world and how we all encourage each other, there’s no other place I could do it. he wants to be,” he says.
Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma celebrates after his team’s 80-73 victory against the USC Trojans in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament at the Moda Center on April 1, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)
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Conn remains undefeated at 4-0 to start the 2024-25 campaign.
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