Breanna Stewart capped a brilliant career with her fourth straight national championship – and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma didn’t argue with the description of Stewart as the best ever.
“I’ll say this. She’s the greatest NCAA tournament player I’ve ever been around,” Auriemma said after UConn lifted the trophy. “When the lights were the brightest, that’s [when] she was at her best.”
Stewart helped UConn beat Syracuse 82-51 on Tuesday night, finishing another flawless season for Auriemma’s Huskies. Until now, only the UCLA men’s team had won four NCAA titles in a row, rolling to seven straight championships under John Wooden from 1967-73.
The win over Syracuse was the 75th straight for UConn, all by double figures. The Huskies (38-0) have been nearly unbeatable since Stewart arrived: they lost four games her freshman year and only one since.
“It wasn’t a sense of relief, it was a sense of success. This is exactly what we wanted,” Stewart said. “Going into every one of our national championship runs, we were confident and that’s what we were tonight, confident. We made history and to be able to say that we did that with those two guys, we’re going to remember that forever.”
With this latest title, Auriemma has passed Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, with his 11th national title.
“What those 11 championships mean to me is how many great players I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Auriemma said. “How many great people have come through the program. 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.”
Stewart nabbed 10 rebounds scored 24 points. She and fellow seniors Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson posed on a ladder after cutting down the net for the final time.
Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said he was proud of how his team performed; they were just beaten by a better team.
“Not shocked by how good they are, not shocked by the things they did in the game. We were definitely prepared for it,” Hillsman said. “We didn’t play scared.”
Auriemma certainly knows the recipe in the NCAA title game, going a perfect 11-0. This one gave the Hall of Fame coach a sixth undefeated season.
“He pushed us to levels that we didn’t know we could even reach or play at,” Stewart said. “And once we bought into that, it was a great journey to be on.”
Hillsman said: “I’m really happy for Breanna Stewart, who came to one of my camps. “She’s a great player.”
