UConn-Believable! Women’s Team on the Verge of History

Quick! Name the best team in the sporting world right now – collegiate or professional. Lakers? Wrong. Cavaliers? Nope. New York Yankees? Not even close. The answer is the women’s basketball team at the University of Connecticut. I can tell you, personally, that as someone who does not watch a whole lot of women’s basketball, the Huskies can flat out play some ball.
This year the Huskies are 37-0 and 16-0 in the Big East Conference. They are not only the defending national champions but are currently in the Women’s Final Four this year and are scheduled to face off against Baylor University on April 4 in San Antonio, TX. As of March 31, they are riding a 76-game winning streak, which is impressive on its own, but even more so is the fact that none of their wins have come by less than ten points.
Simply put, this is arguably the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled at the women’s collegiate level.
The Huskies are led by their three-time All-American First Team junior forward Maya Moore who averages 18.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Complementing Moore is senior center Tina Charles with an average of 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Moore and Charles were also both unanimous selections for the 2010 All-American First Team.
Coach Geno Auriemma is no slouch himself as he has won fifteen Big East Conference Championships, six national title and six Naismith College Coach of the Year awards. Auriemma has also compiled a 731-122 record since 1985 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
I will be honest and admit I rarely watch women’s sports at all. After hearing constantly about how superb this team is on Sportscenter and ESPN, I finally succumbed to the hype and tuned into watch the Huskies take on the Florida State Seminoles in their Elite Eight match-up on March 30.
Not only were they able to squeak out a forty point win (nail biter!) but they recorded the largest regional final win in tournament history against a team that was 29-5. The gap in talent and ability is simply staggering. The Huskies are not even close to being on the same level as their opponents. Florida State was so overmatched in this game it was almost unfair.
Some think the UConn Huskies’ success is not good for the sport. The games are not competitive by any means and it takes a lot of the suspense and drama out of the sport, something that is making the men’s tournament this year particularly entertaining. Others say it is great because their dominance is drawing attention and fans (like myself) to women’s basketball that previously would not have watched a game.
Looking ahead, the Huskies will face off against Baylor University on April 4 in the Women’s Final Four. Baylor is led by star-freshman Brittney Griner, who is known more for her infamous punch that broke Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle’s nose on March 3 than her skills, but she may give the Huskies some competition. She stands at a monstrous height of 6’8” and set the NCAA Women’s Tournament record for most blocks with 35.
However, since UConn has not even been close to being challenged in the past two seasons, Geno Auriemma and the Huskies might be looking to maybe get Griner in foul trouble and easily handle the Bears to advance to the National Title Game against either Stanford or the University of Oklahoma.
Despite the fact that Huskies beat Stanford this season 80-68 on December 23, the Lady Cardinals did manage to beat UConn as they knocked them off in the National Semi- Finals in the 2008 Tournament.
They also defeated Oklahoma 76-60 on February 15, which shows the Huskies are set up well to beat whoever they play and win a second consecutive national title and achieve another perfect season.