UConn's Geno Auriemma wins 11th title to pass John Wooden at top
INDIANAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart and UConn stand alone. Geno Auriemma, too, after another flawless season by the dominating Huskies.
UConn won an unprecedented fourth straight national championship Tuesday night, capping another perfect season by routing Syracuse 82-51. Until now, only the UCLA men's team had won four in a row in Division I, rolling to seven consecutive championships under John Wooden from 1967-73. With Tuesday's victory, Auriemma passed the Wizard of Westwood with his 11th national title.
Peerless again. Perfect again.
"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 earned the most outstanding player of the Final Four all four years of her career. No other women's player has won it more than twice and only Lew Alcindor did it three times on the men's side.
"There's three key ingredients that go into this kind of success, `One, two, three,'" Auriemma said afterward, pointing to his three seniors.
Auriemma has never lost in 11 title appearances. While the names may change, the results are always the same: UConn is still there holding that trophy in the end. This one gave the Hall of Fame coach a sixth undefeated season.
