UConn Basketball

The UConn women lost all of two games last season. This year, they've lost two of their last four games. 

Georgia Tech stunned the Lady Huskies on Thursday night, beating them 57-44 behind Lotta-Maj Lahtinen's 15 points and three assists.

THE YELLOW JACKETS PULL OFF THE UPSET! 🐝 @GTWBB snaps UConn's 240-game winning streak against unranked opponents! @accwbb | #MustSeeACC #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/mxERFiUqPX

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) December 10, 2021

.@dignucis8 WITH THE OFFENSIVE REBOUND AND FINISH!! pic.twitter.com/G8Z8v2NQow

— Georgia Tech Women's Basketball (@GTWBB) December 10, 2021

.@LorelaCubaj gets the DENIAL to end the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/yQXij5Ywil

— Georgia Tech Women's Basketball (@GTWBB) December 10, 2021

.@lottamajj drains the THREE-POINTER!!! pic.twitter.com/lZO3yVAaTe

— Georgia Tech Women's Basketball (@GTWBB) December 10, 2021

Nerea Hermosa added 13 points and six rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, while Christyn Williams led UConn with 13 points and three boards. 

It was the extremely rare loss for UConn against an unranked team:

Georgia Tech snapped UConn's 239-game win streak against unranked opponents, which dated back to 2012 vs St. John's.

The Yellow Jackets held the Huskies to 44 points, their fewest in a game since 2006. pic.twitter.com/fpyV3VkRwr

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 10, 2021

Congrats to @GTWBB taking down #3 UConn @NellOnWheels #NellYes pic.twitter.com/hxmS9694Fn

— LaChina Robinson (@LaChinaRobinson) December 10, 2021

Life without reigning Player of the Year Paige Bueckers didn't get off to a great start for the Huskies. The superstar guard, out six to eight weeks with a tibial plateau fracture in her left knee, has been joined on the sideline by freshman Azzi Fudd and sophomore Nika Muhl, who are also dealing with injuries, this month. 

Whether UConn (5-2) was unable to overcome those missing pieces or Georgia Tech simply played suffocating defense—likely a combination of the two—the Huskies struggled immensely on the offensive end Thursday, shooting just 31 percent from the field (18-of-58) and 13.3 percent from three (2-of-15). They also turned the ball over 16 times. 

Without Bueckers to facilitate and lead the team in scoring, UConn's offense stagnated. It was a worrying first performance in this sans-Bueckers stretch of the season.

"I've usually been pretty good over the years at making players better. Our players get a lot better at UConn...and right now that's not happening" - Geno Auriemma pic.twitter.com/PFiYtC5RsH

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) December 10, 2021

UConn's struggles will be the storyline, but Georgia Tech (7-2) has gotten off to a very nice start this season, with back-to-back wins over Georgia and the Huskies. That aggressive defense, paired with the team's length in the paint, will make the Yellow Jackets a tough out come March. 

Georgia Tech HC Nell Fortner said she’s so proud of her team and the fight they executed down the stretch. She said she knows UConn is down a few players but they’re still a “really really good team.” Big win for Nell tonight. pic.twitter.com/7LWddvl2QB

— Maria Martin (@Ria_Martin) December 10, 2021

Just ask UConn. 

Hall of Fame college basketball coach Jim Calhoun is retiring for the second time.

The former UConn legend announced Thursday that he's stepping down from his head coaching position at the University of Saint Joseph (D-III), effective immediately, and his assistant Glenn Miller will step into his role. Calhoun retired from UConn in 2012 before accepting the position at Saint Joseph in 2018.

Saint Joseph began admitting men to the university in 2018 and fielded its first men's basketball team during the 2018-19 season with Calhoun at the helm following a six-year retirement. The Blue Jays had their season canceled last year and started out this year with a 3-0 record. Calhoun said he didn't announce his retirement prior to the season because he feared players might choose to transfer after he left.

"I wanted to be sure I gave Glenn a good team," Calhoun told The Athletic. When asked if he would be OK to be away from coaching in his second retirement, he responded, "Probably not."

Calhoun also cited his health as a reason for stepping away. The 79-year-old is fully recovered from a broken hip in January and said he wants to be able to enjoy his downtime while he still can. 

"I feel good. My wife is healthy. I’m healthy," he said. “I can enjoy the grandchildren. This is the right time to do it."

Calhoun had coached the Huskies since 1986 and won three national championships. He had found success coaching the Blue Jays as well, putting together a 47-17 record in three seasons.

In Calhoun's second year in 2019-20, Saint Joseph had a 25-game win streak and advanced to the NCAA tournament. It was a swift rise for a program that was nonexistent prior to his arrival.

"Let me tell you something,‘’ Calhoun says, “Division III kids like to win, too."

Saint Joseph now sponsors six men's sports and has built a new turf soccer and lacrosse field, thanks in large part to Calhoun's presence at the school.

After becoming the first freshman to win the Wooden Award as the best women's college basketball player, Paige Bueckers is a top candidate to win it again in 2021-22.

The UConn guard headlined the preseason watch list featuring 50 of the best players in the country, per ESPN. 

Bueckers is one of five Huskies players on the list, which also includes Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Aaliyah Edwards and Azzi Fudd.

The depth will help the Huskies as they seek their first title since 2016. The team reached the Final Four last year behind Buecker's 20.0 points, 5.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game, but a loss to Arizona ended the team's title hopes.

Stanford took home the championship and bring back Cameron Brink, Lexie Hull and Haley Jones, three players who made the preseason top 50 list.

Jones was the Final Four Most Outstanding Player after scoring 17 points with eight rebounds in the title game victory over Arizona.

South Carolina also features three players on the list—Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson—helping them become the No. 1 team in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Baylor's NaLyssa Smith is another top contender for the Wooden Award after averaging 18.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season.

Caitlin Clark also returns as the nation's leading scorer last year with an average of 26.6 points per game for Iowa.    

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Wooden Award Preseason Top 50

Shakira Austin, Ole Miss

Kierstan Bell, Florida Gulf Coast

Grace Berger, Indiana

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Cameron Brink, Stanford

Leigha Brown, Michigan

Jakia Brown-Turner, NC State

Paige Bueckers, UConn

Rae Burrell, Tennessee

Veronica Burton, Northwestern

Caitlin Clark, Iowa

Nia Clouden, Michigan State

Zia Cooke, South Carolina

Lorela Cubaj, Georgia Tech

Elissa Cunane, NC State

Monika Czinano, Iowa

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn

Queen Egbo, Baylor

Azzi Fudd, UConn

Vivian Gray, Texas Tech

Anastasia Hayes, Mississippi State

Lauren Heard, TCU

Destanni Henderson, South Carolina

Naz Hillmon, Michigan

Mya Hollingshed, Colorado

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Lexie Hull, Stanford

Rickea Jackson, Mississippi State

Ashley Joens, Iowa State

Haley Jones, Stanford

Taylor Jones, Oregon State

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech

Lotta-Maj Lathinen, Georgia Tech

Ayoka Lee, Kansas State

Charlisse Leger-Walker, Washington State

Jordan Lewis, Baylor

Diamond Miller, Maryland

Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn

Charisma Osborne, UCLA

Ashley Owusu, Maryland

Te-Hina Paopao, Oregon

Alissa Pili, USC

Khayla Pointer, LSU

Nyara Sabally, Oregon

Myah Selland, South Dakota State

Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech

NaLyssa Smith, Baylor

Hailey Van Lith, Louisville

Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame

Christyn Williams, UConn

UConn head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke out against the transfer portal system in college sports Wednesday.

According to ESPN's Harry Lyles Jr., Auriemma said: "It was gonna be a mess from the beginning, and it's a mess now, and it's going to be a bigger mess each and every year. A lot of these kids are delusional. You know, they have so many voices in their ear."

Auriemma took issue with the fact that there are 1,000 college athletes in the transfer portal, 200 of which haven't been contacted by another school and won't be returning to their previous school.

The 11-time NCAA women's basketball tournament-winning coach also expressed his belief that there is a double standard, noting that it is OK for a player to transfer without a concrete reason, while coaches can't revoke a scholarship for poor performance.

Auriemma added:

"There's something wrong with the recruiting system, there's something wrong with the culture of college basketball today, there's something wrong with the entitlement that happens to exist today.

"And there's something wrong with this idea of, you know, student-athlete welfare, that everything should be done to accommodate the student athlete, with no regard whatsoever, to the coaches who work their ass off, to recruit these kids in the first place, work with them, help them get better, make them the player that they are. And then they up and leave with no consequences whatsoever."

Transferring is easier than ever in college sports, as the requirement to sit out a season before playing for a new school has been eliminated for first-time transfers.

That has led to the transfer portal being flooded with players in every major sport during every offseason, and that has been the case with women's basketball as well.

While Auriemma isn't against the elimination of having to sit out for a year, he feels significant issues have led to the influx of transfers:

"But 1,000 kids? One thousand, it's unbelievable. And now, it's, you know, with the one time transfer, not having to sit out. Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree. I think it's great. But there's got to be something wrong with the culture if it's this bad. On both ends—on the kids, and then the coaches—there's got to be something wrong."

Since UConn is among the top teams in women's college basketball on a yearly basis, it tends to attract many of the top recruits.

That can make it difficult for players on the lower part of the roster to get playing time, resulting in some transfers.

Per Lyles, sophomore guard Anna Makurat and freshman guard Autumn Chassion both entered the transfer portal following the 2020-21 season.

Auriemma also used the transfer portal to his advantage, though, landing forward Dorka Juhasz from Ohio State.

UConn has not won a national title since 2016, but it has reached the Final Four every year since then, and with reigning Player of the Year Paige Bueckers returning for the 2021-22 season, the Huskies will be among the top picks to win it all.

The University of Connecticut announced Friday it signed women's head basketball coach Geno Auriemma to a five-year contract extension through the Huskies' 2024-25 season.

The new deal is retroactive to the 2020-21 campaign and includes an annual base salary of $600,000 plus of media, consulting and speaking appearances fees worth $2.2 million in the first season. Auriemma's base salary will increase by $100,000 each year of the deal and includes postseason incentives meaning it's worth "at least $15 million," per Alexa Philippou of the Hartford Courant.

Auriemma, 67, has led UConn to 21 Final Four appearances and 11 national championships since taking over the program in 1985. He owns a career record of 1,119-144 record (.886 winning percentage) in 36 seasons.

His new contract includes a variety of incentives based on the team's performance and the option to receive either a job within the Huskies' athletic department with a $500,000 annual salary or a one-time $1.5 million payment if he retires or resigns from coaching in good standing, per Philippou.

Last July, Auriemma joked COVID-19 quarantine requirements that forced him to stay in the same spot for an extended time pushed him even further away from retirement thoughts, though.

"This is the longest I've been in one place in my life. I've been in Connecticut since the middle of March," he told reporters. "If this is what retirement is like, I've got no time for this. I'm not ready for this. No way, no how. I can't do this."

Although UConn hasn't won a national title since 2016, when the Huskies won their fourth straight championship, the program has retained powerhouse status with at least 28 wins and no more than three losses over the past five years. It reached the 2021 Final Four where it fell to Arizona.

The current Huskies roster features Paige Bueckers, one of the most prized recruits in recent history, and they added the second-best group of 2021 prospects, per ESPN.

Auriemma, an Italy native who grew up in Pennsylvania, has solidified his status as one of the greatest coaches in history between his success at UConn and leading the U.S. national team to three Olympic gold medals in women's basketball.

The contract extension should end any further questions about his short-term status.

UConn announced star basketball player Paige Bueckers underwent surgery Friday to repair an osteochondral defect on her right ankle, per ESPN Women's Hoops.

She is expected to return by the start of preseason action in September.

Beuckers averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game last season on her way to becoming the Associated Press Women's Basketball Player of the Year—and the first freshman ever to win the award.

Paige Bueckers of @UConnWBB is the FIRST freshman to be named AP’s women’s basketball player of the year!

Hats off to @paigebueckers1!

(🎥 @AP_Top25)

pic.twitter.com/S0rWgfsnRb

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) March 31, 2021

The guard was the clear go-to option for a team that reached the Final Four before losing to Arizona in the national semifinals.

Since 1995, every other winner has been a junior or senior except former UConn stars Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart, who both won as sophomores.

Bueckers' impressive performance in her first collegiate season wasn't enough to get the Huskies a title, but they will again go into next year with high expectations.

The team returns each of its top five scorers in Bueckers, Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Evina Westbrook and Aaliyah Edwards. The squad also adds No. 1 prospect Azzi Fudd, a guard, as part of the second-best recruiting class in the country, per Shane Laflin and Jason Key of ESPN.

As long as Bueckers is healthy, UConn has the talent to bring home its first title since 2016.

Connecticut star Paige Bueckers made history, becoming the first freshman to win the John R. Wooden Award for women's basketball.

Another one!

Paige Bueckers is the Wooden Award winner! pic.twitter.com/WecGzYiY0p

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 5, 2021

Bueckers averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from beyond the arc. She learned of Monday's result during an appearance on SportsCenter.

The Athletic's Charlotte Carroll noted the Huskies guard has earned an entire cabinet full of individual trophies this season:

https://twitter.com/charlottecrrll/status/1379205186346909699

The Wooden Award factors in the regular-season and postseason tournaments.

Through her performance in the Big Dance, Arizona's Aari McDonald made a late push for the honor. McDonald was the engine behind the Wildcats' first-ever appearance in the national championship, and she dropped 26 points and seven rebounds in a 69-59 semifinal victory over UConn.

Texas' Charli Collier, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston, Baylor's NaLyssa Smith and Iowa's Caitlin Clark all built resumes worthy of earning the Wooden Award as well.

But few can take much issue with the final outcome.

According to Her Hoops Stats, Bueckers was first in win shares (12.9) and 15th in offensive rating (125.7). Going back to 2015-16, the 5'11" guard's 59.9 percent effective field goal rate was also second among freshmen with at least 300 shot attempts.

The Hopkins, Minnesota, native was the most hyped player in the 2020 recruiting class, and she might have even exceeded expectations in her first year.

Thanks to Monday's win, Bueckers is now in a great position to do something no other player has to date.

The Wooden Award dates back to 1976-77 on the men's side and 2003-04 for the women. Ralph Sampson is the only two-time men's winner, while Seimone Augustus, Candace Parker, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu all lifted the trophy twice.

Nobody has won it three times, and achieving that feat isn't an unattainable goal for Bueckers before she moves on to the WNBA.

Connecticut moved into the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press' Top 25 women's basketball poll on the strength of its 63-59 overtime win over previously top-ranked South Carolina last Monday.

The AP's Doug Feinberg noted the Huskies, who were No. 2, have been ranked first in nine straight seasons. The second-longest active streak is only two years, an achievement shared by South Carolina and Stanford.

"It becomes a little more meaningful or significant when you see some programs and where they were nine years ago and where they are today," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, who has been with the Huskies since 1985. "You appreciate it for sure when you see how hard it is that other really, really good programs [don't do it]. It does bring a sense of, yeah, we're fortunate that we put ourselves in that position every year."

The AP poll was bound to have a new No. 1 team for the third straight week once the Gamecocks suffered their second loss of the year.

Paige Bueckers finished with 31 points, six steals, five assists and four rebounds, and the freshman guard confirmed the outcome with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired deep into overtime.

PAIGE. GETS. BUCKETS.@paigebueckers1 gets the bounce in OT to seal the win for @UConnWBB 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yMqfZj0TUq

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 9, 2021

Connecticut hasn't won a national championship since 2016, which feels like an eternity for a program that reeled off four straight titles and six over an eight-year span.

Bueckers has lived up to the hype. Evina Westbrook has made an immediate impact upon being eligible to play following her transfer from Tennessee. Bueckers' success is also overshadowing the fact UConn has another freshman, Aaliyah Edwards, who's averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in just 19.4 minutes per game.

No team in women's basketball looks to be head and shoulders above the pack. This could be the opportunity for the Huskies to once again reign supreme.

The UConn Huskies women's basketball team blew out the Butler Bulldogs on Tuesday night, 103-35, giving head coach Geno Auriemma the 1,099th win of his legendary career.

That victory propelled him to second place on the all-time wins list in Division I women's basketball, ahead of late Tennessee Volunteers head coach Pat Summitt.

"I wish [Pat Summitt] was still with us, coaching. I wish I had to work a lot harder to catch her.”

Geno Auriemma after passing the late Pat Summitt for No. 2 on the all-time D-I women's basketball wins list with his 1,099th victory. pic.twitter.com/7ECY35VZNP

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 20, 2021

He is now chasing Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, who sits atop the wins list with 1,105. That number will continue to grow with VanDerveer—who has been coaching since 1978—still leading the Cardinal.

Auriemma, 66, reflected on the accomplishment before the game, telling reporters he was proud of the achievement:

"It's obviously something that you take tremendous pride in. And you can look back on as an incredible accomplishment, to be able to coach this long. To have the opportunity to coach this long, and to want to do it.

"If you put me back in time and drop me down here in 1984 again and say, 'Hey, try to do this,' I would say it's not doable.' Yet in the next breath I can say, 'But we did it.' And we're not finished yet."

In his 36 years as the head coach at UConn, Auriemma has posted an incredible list of accomplishments:

• 11 national championships
• 20 Final Four appearances
• 12 Final Four appearances in a row (2007-08 to 2018-19)
• .886 winning percentage (best in D-I women's basketball history)
• 111-game winning streak (2014-15 to 2016-17)
• Six undefeated seasons
• 13 National Player of the Year winners

Passing Summitt is no small feat. She was a legend in her own right during her time at Tennessee, with the rivalry between the Huskies and Volunteers becoming the main attraction for women's college basketball in the 1990s and 2000s.

"Back when Pat was alive and winning championships, everybody would talk about Pat in two ways," Auriemma told reporters. "One, 'I admire her so much, she wins so much, she does it the right way.' Then you had the other part of the population that would go, 'Man, I want to beat Tennessee so bad.'"

These days, teams around the nation want to beat UConn so bad. Few do.

The Big East Conference announced Friday the men's basketball game between Connecticut and Villanova scheduled for Jan. 15 has been postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the Wildcats' program.

No makeup date for the contest was immediately announced.

Villanova last played Dec. 23, a 85-68 victory over Marquette that improved its record to 8-1. The team's last six games have now been postponed.

The Wildcats formally entered a COVID-19 pause Jan. 4.

Head coach Jay Wright said Monday the team had seemingly turned a corner with nine straight days of negative coronavirus test results, but after they returned to practice, there were two new positive tests among the players.

"We're obviously going through a tough time right now in our program," Wright told reporters. "I was the first one [to test positive]—it had nothing to do with the players, it was me. It started with me."

The 59-year-old Pennsylvania native, who's in his 20th season leading the Villanova program, said he's fully recovered after testing positive in late December.

"I had 'em all. I'm good now," Wright said about his COVID-19 symptoms. "But it was like having a bad case of the flu. That's what it was for me. That's what it seemed like to me."

He added the "biggest concern" right now is the players' mental health after a 10-day quarantine followed by another stoppage to basketball activities.

For now, the Wildcats' next game is scheduled for Jan. 19 against Seton Hall.