Last season, UConn honored its 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 national championship teams on the same night. The latter group featured six players who were already inducted into the Huskies of Honor as individuals. The former had one: Diana Taurasi.
Geno Auriemma took a moment to marvel at the difference.
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“I walked over to Dee (Diana Taurasi) and said, ‘Dee, I have no idea how you guys did that. No idea. Look at that team (the 2013 and 2014 champions) down there,‘” the coach relayed. “She just shook her head. Like, you compare that team (2013 and 2014) and that team (2003 and 2004) — half the kids that were standing down there are on the (All-American) wall at Werth. And this team? Just Dee.”
During her final two years at UConn, Taurasi didn’t just win back-to-back national championships without another All-American alongside. The Huskies didn’t even have a second All-Big East First Team selection. Only Barbara Turner (third team in 2003, second team in 2004) and Ann Strother (third team in 2003 and 2004) earned all-conference recognition. Nobody else even garnered an honorable mention nod.
To put that in perspective, each of the Huskies’ 10 other championship teams featured at least two WBCA All-Americans that same season. When including the entire career of everyone on the roster, they all had at least three All-Americans (assuming Azzi Fudd becomes one later this season). Meanwhile, the 2013, 2014 and 2016 teams had six players who became All-Americans.
That’s why UConn’s 2003 and 2004 titles stand alone. The Huskies weren’t a juggernaut those seasons. Instead, they were a group of role players who played their part to perfection, led by a bona fide superstar in Taurasi.
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“Dee, at the time, was the greatest offensive player I’ve ever seen, certainly for us. There’d be nights where she would just go and get 30 and wouldn’t even try. Then the next night, she would get three because she didn’t need to. It was somebody else’s turn,” Auriemma said last season.
In 2003, UConn shrugged off the loss of Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams to put together a perfect 29-0 regular season. The Huskies advanced to the Big East Tournament championship game, where they were knocked off by Villanova in a rock fight, 52-48. UConn didn’t let the loss linger into March Madness, though.
“When we got in the NCAA Tournament, then things changed,” Auriemma said about Taurasi. “Now you gotta elevate your teammates.”
During that run through the big dance, Taurasi went nuclear. She dropped a career-high 35 points in the second round against TCU, then followed that up with 26 points and 12 boards in the following game against Boston College.
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But her best game in a UConn uniform came in the national semifinal versus Texas. Taurasi willed the Huskies back from a nine-point second-half deficit by scoring 11 of her 26 points in the final nine minutes. On the final possession of the game, with UConn holding onto a narrow 71-69 lead, Taurasi forced a steal just before the buzzer to secure the victory.
Two days later, Taurasi and the Huskies defeated arch-rival Tennessee to capture their fourth national championship. UConn became the first team ever to win it all without a senior on its roster.
The following season didn’t go so smoothly. UConn lost at home to Duke in early January then fell at Notre Dame just 10 days later. The Huskies were taken down by Villanova in the penultimate game of the regular season and then lost in the Big East Tournament semifinals to Boston College.
UConn entered the NCAA Tournament with more losses than it had over the three previous seasons combined.
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It didn’t matter. Once again, Taurasi carried the Huskies to a third straight national title, vanquishing Tennessee in the title game for the second consecutive year. She did it all despite a back injury, too.
The key to UConn’s success was simple.
“We have Diana and you don’t,” Auriemma famously said that March.
The Huskies’ best players all left their own unique mark on the program. Maya Moore authored the only back-to-back undefeated seasons in women’s college basketball history. Breanna Stewart won four titles in four years. Paige Bueckers fought through a mountain of adversity to capture her lone championship in her final game.
But nobody did more with less than Taurasi.
