On Sunday, UConn women’s basketball capped off its 11th undefeated regular season with a win at St. John’s. The Huskies are 31-0 and enter the postseason as heavy favorites to win their 13th national championship.
But history has shown that nothing is guaranteed in March. Three times in program history, UConn’s season has ended with its first loss. In 1997, the 33-0 Huskies went down in the Elite Eight to Tennessee. In 2017 and 2018, they entered the Final Four with a 36-0 record, only to lose on overtime buzzer-beaters both times.
Advertisement
UConn currently finds itself in a similar position as the latter two teams. At their best, the Huskies are easily the best team in the country. The biggest threat to their national title hopes is themselves.
To this point in the season, UConn hasn’t been seriously tested. Sure, the Huskies needed to hold off a late surge from Michigan to grab a 72-69 win in November, faced a second-half deficit against Tennessee in early February and then trailed for most of the first half at Villanova. But they have yet to trail in the fourth quarter this season and have only limited experience in high-pressure situations. Until they end up in one, it’s impossible to know how they’ll react.
In 2016-17 and 2017-18, UConn melted under the bright lights.
Despite losing Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck after winning its fourth straight national championship in 2016, UConn didn’t skip a beat the following season.
Advertisement
With a new-look core of Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson, Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse, the Huskies snuck out with a two-point win at Florida State in the season opener then took off. They won all but two games by double-digits and rolled through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament by an average margin of victory of 36.0.
Only once had UConn even come close to falling. After extending its record-setting win streak to 100 games, the Huskies traveled to take on Tulane, a team they’d beaten by 44 earlier in the season. But instead of adding another blowout victory to the pile, they barely escaped with a 63-60 victory. They didn’t exactly earn it, either. UConn struggled to make plays when the game got tight, making just two field goals over the final six minutes while going 5-12 from the line in the fourth quarter. Tulane had a chance at a game-tying or go-ahead basket on its final possession but failed to even get a shot off.
“What happened today is the wrong team won,“ Geno Auriemma said postgame. ”We had them down 17 and our guys are used to the other team maybe missing shots or struggling and this team decided to fight back. We had no business winning that game.“
With so many comfortable victories throughout the season, the Huskies didn’t know how to play under pressure. That proved to be a fatal flaw.
Advertisement
In the Final Four, Mississippi State punched UConn in the mouth out of the gate and went up by as many as 16 in the first half. The Huskies eventually rallied back and went to overtime. In the extra period, UConn had the ball with 26 seconds left in a tie game. It could hold for the final shot and, at worst, go to a second OT.
But instead of letting the clock drain down, senior Saniya Chong panicked and charged to the basket. She was called for an offensive foul and the Bulldogs gained possession with 14 seconds left. They didn’t waste it. As time expired, Morgan William hit a jumper at the buzzer to deliver the stunning upset.
The following season, the Huskies returned practically their entire roster while adding in Duke transfer Azura Stevens. Once again, UConn rolled through the regular season, though it did have to battle for tight wins over Notre Dame (80-71) and Texas (75-71).
Still, the Huskies’ lack of experience in close games came back to bite them. Back in the Final Four, this time taking on arch-rival Notre Dame, they fell into a 13-point hole early — much like the previous year. UConn responded better this time and actually took a seven-point lead into the locker room. The second half proved to be a heavyweight bout as the sides traded blows.
Advertisement
In the end, the same result befell the Huskies. They failed to execute in big spots — Williams couldn’t sink a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, then Samuelson missed a shot just outside the paint that would’ve tied it as time expired in overtime — and lost on another buzzer-beater.
While there are some echoes between UConn’s current team and the aforementioned two, it’s not a perfect comparison. The Huskies’ most important players are far more experienced in big moments than the core from 2016-18 was.
Last season, Azzi Fudd hit a crucial 3-pointer in the Elite Eight to help fend off a comeback bid by UCLA and went on to be named Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Sarah Strong has been a go-to player from the moment she stepped on campus, whereas Collier, Samuelson, Nurse and Williams were only role players on previous national championship teams behind the likes of Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck.
UConn also has significantly more depth. In both 2016-17 and 2017-18, the Huskies trusted just six players in their rotation. When things went sideways, they didn’t have anyone else to turn to. That’s not the case this season, where one of UConn’s biggest strengths is its depth. The Huskies regularly use nine players.
Advertisement
UConn has also reacted well to high-stress situations, even if it hasn’t faced many. When Louisville pulled within 10 late in the fourth quarter, the Huskies instantly found Strong for two straight baskets. When Syla Swords went unconscious from three for Michigan, UConn scored on every ensuing possession.
Although they admittedly got rattled in the second quarter against Tennessee, they regrouped at halftime and dominated the final 15 minutes. When they struggled at Marquette and at Villanova, UConn dug deep and found big runs to put the game away.
There’s a reason the Huskies are projected to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. All season long, they’ve proven themselves to be the best team in the nation.
They also aren’t unbeatable, as they’ve shown multiple times throughout this season. So as March gets underway and UConn begins its quest for a seventh perfect season, it should remember that nothing is pre-ordained at this point in the calendar. Just ask the 2016-17 and 2017-18 teams.
