Women’s College Hoops Spotlight: How Being Tested Helps UConn Stay Undefeated

Perhaps Darnell Haney was right. In last week’s Women’s College Hoops Spotlight, we highlighted a comment the Georgetown coach made about UConn being the “best team they’ve had” since he’s been coaching against them. While that seemed like quite a statement to make at the time, UConn — the No. 1 team in the country — backed that up this week when it crushed then-No. 15 Tennessee, 96-66, at home Sunday. As we also previously mentioned, the last time the Huskies lost a game was to these same Volunteers almost exactly a year ago. The result didn’t matter in the grand scheme of the season because UConn went on to win the national championship, the program’s 12th overall and first since 2016. The Huskies’ current winning streak is now up to 39 straight games, and they’re one win away from tying Texas and cracking the top-10 longest win streaks in NCAA history — though the program also has four of the top-5 longest streaks. UConn is the only undefeated team left in the country, and it’s supremely talented, with players like Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong leading the Wooden Award midseason top 25 list. In Sunday’s win over Tennessee, the two combined to put up 53 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and three blocks. As a team, UConn shot 58% from the field while holding the Lady Vols to 38%. They also had double the amount of steals (14-7) and had six blocks while Tennessee had none. Yes, the final score was lopsided, but the teams were tied 42-42 at halftime and UConn only led 57-53 midway through the third quarter. That’s when Strong got a run started and UConn outscored Tennessee 39-13 over the final 15 minutes of the latest edition of this storied rivalry. [NCAA: Women’s College Hoops Top 10, Bubble Team NET Rankings] “You play these games to be really tested, to find out a little bit about what your team is made of,” UConn coach Gene Auriemma told reporters after the game. “It’s good that you have to kind of regroup and find yourself.” That first half was one of the very few times the Huskies have experienced adversity this season. Auriemma’s team has been blowing past opponents all year — their average margin of victory is 39.3 points through 23 games, with a 72-69 win over then-No. 6 Michigan back in November being the closest game they’ve played. UConn only has eight regular season games left, none of which are against ranked opponents. Will a weaker schedule over this final stretch hurt the Huskies once they reach the NCAA tournament? Who’s to say, but winning back-to-back titles will require Auriemma’s group to potentially beat some combination of physical and tough teams like South Carolina, UCLA, Texas, LSU and/or Louisville.