Geno Auriemma is leading 38-0 UConn into Phoenix for the Final Four on the hunt for his second straight national title and 13th overall for the Huskies. He’s been the torchbearer of success in the women’s game for over four decades, with more rings than fit on his fingers.
And though an undefeated champion in any sport is typically a legendary and rare feat, this season would be the seventh time his teams have done so. So how impressive is this season in the context of Auriemma’s indelible legacy? That’s for you to decide, and the task in front of them still looms large. Dawn Staley and South Carolina will try to end UConn’s perfect season in a rematch of last year’s championship in the Final Four this season.
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So for now, let’s take a look back and rank the 12 championships.
12. 2003-2004
Record: 31-4
The last Taurasi championship and the culmination of UConn’s first three-peat. Yet, the season lacked the utter dominance of other Huskies’ campaigns on this list. It was the second straight season in which UConn didn’t win the Big East tournament following Sue Bird’s departure in 2002. The Huskies didn’t even make the final, losing to Boston College in the semifinals for their fourth loss on the year, a stain by UConn’s standards. It righted the ship in the NCAA Tournament, beating two No. 1 seeds and winning their last three games by an average of 12.3 points.
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11. 2012-2013
Another four-loss UConn team ranks comparatively low here. The Huskies surrendered the Big East tournament title game to Notre Dame, which was the third time they’d lost to their rivals that season. Though with their fourth and final chance, in the Final Four, UConn rolled. Breanna Stewart, just a freshman, scored 29 points and blocked four shots to lead UConn past the Irish, 83-65, and into the championship against Louisville, which they beat 93-60. It was the first of four straight championships for Stewart.
10. 2024-2025
Record: 37-3
Like 2004 for Taurasi, the 2025 team was the culmination and coronation for the superstar future WNBA Draft No. 1 pick, guard Paige Bueckers. It had been nine seasons since Auriemma had won a national title — a lifetime in Storrs, Conn. — after the Huskies went cold after Stewart left for the WNBA in 2016. They saw the rise of Beuckers, who spent five seasons in Storrs, battled injury and became UConn’s all-time leader in career points per game (19.9). Even though the Huskies lost three games this season, Bueckers was Big East player of the year for the second time and was joined by Big East freshman of the year Sarah Strong to beat teams by an average of 32.8 points a game on their way back to the pinnacle of the sport.
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9. 2014-2015
Record: 38-1
The third consecutive Stewart championship season was also the year that marked the start of an unfathomable winning streak. After a two-point overtime loss to Stanford in the second game of the season, the Huskies didn’t lose again until the Final Four in 2017, after Stewart left. In this season, even unknown to them at the time, the Huskies began an 111-game winning streak. UConn was offensively and defensively impermeable with a plus-40.6 average scoring differential throughout the season. Three All-Americans — Stewart (first team), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson — led the Huskies. In a defensive 63-53 national championship win over Notre Dame, the latter two scored 15 points to aid the struggling Stewart, who only had 8 points that game.
8. 2002-2003
Record: 37-1
Unlike Taurasi’s senior year, in which the Huskies lost four games and went tumbling into the tournament, the 2003 UConn team displayed relatively normal dominance. In the first year without Bird, junior Taurasi took the reins, leading UConn in points (17.9), rebounds (6.1) and assists (4.4). The Huskies had lost four of five starters from the year prior, three of whom were All-Americans.
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The Huskies won their six tournament games by an average of 16.5 points and battled with No. 2 Texas in the Final Four (71-69) and No. 1 Tennessee, coached by Pat Summitt and led by All-American guard Kara Lawson, in the championship (73-68). Though not as undeniably dominant as other UConn teams, it ranks admirably on this list for weathering challenges with a comparatively less talented roster and still producing a one-loss, championship season.
7. 1999-2000
Record: 36-1
These Huskies featured a sophomore quartet of future top-six WNBA Draft picks: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams. That star power accented a team led by two first-team All-Americans in Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova. The Huskies ran roughshod over their schedule that year; however, it featured four heated battles with Tennessee and Auriemma’s rival, Summitt. A one-point loss to Tennessee was UConn’s only stumble, but it reestablished control over the Lady Vols with an authoritative 71-52 tournament championship win near Auriemma’s hometown of Philadelphia. Ralph led the way with 15 points, seven rebounds and six steals, while Jones added 12 off the bench to secure the first UConn championship of the new millennium.
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6. 2013-2014
Record: 40-0
Little competition got in the way of Stewart’s second championship as the Huskies tied the record for the most wins in a championship-winning season. The Huskies allowed just 47.8 points per game while scoring 82.1 per game. Stewart, Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson were All-Americans. Stewart, a sophomore, averaged 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game to win her first of three AP Player of the Year awards. She scored 21 points in UConn’s 79-58 national championship win over Notre Dame that year and was one of four players to score in double figures in that game.
5. 1994-1995
Record: 35-0
The one that started it all. Auriemma, at age 41 and in his 10th season at UConn, led a team headlined by All-Americans Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters on a 35-0 rampage to secure the first undefeated season and national championship in UConn history. Lobo was a transcendent force in the pre-WNBA era and won AP Player of the Year as a senior, averaging 17.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks for the Huskies. UConn averaged 89.5 points per game as a team and allowed just 56.3 per game.
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4. 2009-2010
Record: 39-0
The Huskies are synonymous with rosters packed with future WNBA MVPs and Hall of Famers. The 2010 team featured the legendary duo of Maya Moore and Tina Charles, combining for two future WNBA MVPs. Charles was the national player of the year, and UConn steamrolled its way through March, winning every game before the title by an average of 41.6 points. This team trails the other Moore-Charles squad only because of its comparatively narrow 53-47 win over Stanford in the championship.
3. 2015-2016
Record: 38-0
Stewart’s fourth and final championship was her most dominant. Stewart averaged 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks. UConn had a 39.7 scoring differential on its way to an undefeated season. It set the record for the highest combined margin of victory at the Final Four by winning its last two games of the season by a combined 60 points over Oregon State and Syracuse. The Huskies won their six tournament games by an average of 39.8 points. This team featured six current WNBA players, including Napheesa Collier, coming off the bench. Four players (Stewart, Morgan Tuck, Jefferson and Katie Lou Samuelson) averaged double figures.
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2. 2008-2009
The first season of the Moore and Charles pairing was slightly more dominant, largely because of how advanced the pair was from everyone in the tournament and the added star power of Renee Montgomery. The Huskies averaged 85 points per game in March and outscored opponents by an average of 26 points per game. There were no close calls like the following year’s narrow win over Stanford. Charles took her turn as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and Moore won National Player of the Year. The two would alternate the awards over the next few years. This was also Montgomery’s senior season before she was selected fourth in the 2009 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. Montgomery, Moore and Charles combined to supply 52.3 points per game.
1. 2001-2002
Any team with Bird and Taurasi is destined for greatness. They collected hardware, whether with USA Basketball, where they combined for five gold medals, or overseas, where they won five EuroLeague titles. In 2002, the duo’s collaboration at UConn showed signs of the greatness to come. Bird, a senior, and Taurasi, a sophomore, alongside fellow future Hall of Famer Swin Cash, led the Huskies to an undefeated season, capped by a dominant 82-70 win over Oklahoma for the national championship. It marked the first of three straight titles, but the only one with Bird and Taurasi together.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Connecticut Huskies, Women’s College Basketball
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