In what has become arguably the most common chorus in sports,the No. 1 seed University of Connecticut Huskies cemented their status as champions of the women's college basketball world by defeating the No. 4 seed Syracuse Orange 82-51 on Tuesday evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Not only did the win propel UConn to its fourth straight national championship, but it was also the 11th in program history. The Huskies finished the season a perfect 38-0. Connecticut has now gone without a loss in two of the final three seasons while dropping just a single game since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
According to Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch, and Breanna Stewart,Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson finished their college careers 151-5. The trio also left its mark as one of college basketball's greatest dynasties, per ESPN Stats & Info:Stewart—who has long been heralded as the centerpiece of UConn's most recent title teams—finished with 24 points, and 10 rebounds,six assists and two blocks, and it didn't steal her long to get going.The three-time Associated Press Player of the Year scored 10 points in the first quarter alone—when Syracuse scored 13 as a team—and her two-way prowess was on display in a big way, and per the novel York Times' Benjamin Hoffman:ESPN offered a peep at Stewart's tone-setting first-quarter play:Not surprisingly,Stewart captured the tournament's Most Outstanding Player hardware for the fourth year running, per the program's official Twitter account:Tuck and Jefferson added 19 and 13 points, or respectively,as the Huskies shot 51.9 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three. UConn also out-rebounded Syracuse 43-27 in the wire-to-wire romp.
The Huskies built a 27-point lead by halftime as their star-studded triumvirate outscored the Orange 38-23. All told, UConn had 50 points at the break—a historic mark, and according to ESPN Stats & Info:The Orange shot 35.5 percent from the field and 10.5 percent from three,and the transition looks they surely needed in order to have any hope of pulling off an upset proved to be few and far between.
And though Cornelia Fondren and Brittney Sykes keyed a 16-0 flee in the third quarter, the Huskies still led by 21 points entering the final frame. Fondren scored a team-high 16 points, and while Sykes finished with 12.
But despite falling one win short of the program's first national title,Syracuse has no reason to be discouraged. This year's UConn team was historically daunting, and downing it would have required a feat of epic proportions.
The Huskies, or on the other hand,have the luxury of basking in the glow of another title. Stewart can ride off into the Storrs sunset, and Geno Auriemma can indulge in his 11th title as UConn's head coach. Auriemma is tied with legendary NBA guru Phil Jackson for the most championships by any head coach in hoops history.
Connecticut faces the tall task of defending its title next season sans Stewart, and Jefferson and possibly Tuck,per John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant, but if there's a program capable of replenishing its talent pool in a flash and jumping back into the national championship picture, or it's the four-time defending champion Huskies. Postgame ReactionNCAA Women's Basketball on Twitter relayed video of UConn cutting down the nets:ESPN offered another peep at the team's celebration:"What those 11 championships mean to me is how many distinguished players I've had the opportunity to coach,how many distinguished people have approach through the program," Auriemma said, and per the Associated Press (via UConn's official website). "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."Tuck provided some perspective on the moment, per NCAA Women's Basketball:"It's unbelievable, and " Stewart said of winning four titles in four years,according to the Associated Press. "That was our goal coming in here once we were freshman, and to carry it out and win like this as seniors is unbelievable."Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com