NCAA WBB: UConn wins 11th National Championship and fourth in a row
Breanna Stewart and the UConn women won their 11th NCAA WBB National Championship in program history by beating Syracuse on Tuesday night.
Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck will go down in women’s college basketball lore as the only individuals to four-peat in the sport.
The feat has rarely been accomplished in mainstream collegiate athletics. Under John Wooden, UCLA men’s basketball won seven championships in a row from ’67-’73. However, the tournament was not in its modern format and the league was only being introduced to racial integration. With his 11th title, UConn coach Geno Auriemma has surpassed Wooden’s record of 10 college basketball championships.
As Auriemma’s team has done in almost every contest this season, they put the game out of reach early. The Huskies started the game on 9-0 run, highlighted by a Stewart 3-pointer and block. Jefferson hit an amazing buzzer beating 3-pointer while falling to the left to give UConn a 15 point lead at the end of the first quarter.
A Kia Nurse three with 6:47 left in the 2nd quarter brought the lead to 21.
Stewart truly left it all on the floor in the last game of her legendary career, as her elbow was bloodied up late in the first half. She was quickly bandaged up and returned to hit a jumper with time expiring to give UConn a dominating 27 point lead at the break.
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In the 3rd quarter, Syracuse clawed back with a 16-0 run that spanned almost six minutes. Napheesa Collier, a freshman guard for UConn who was getting more playing time due to a fractured foot suffered by starter Katie Lou Samuelson in the semifinal, thwarted the rally with a pair of layups to close out the half.
The game was never close in the 4th. Stewart finished a 3-point play with 2:30 left in the game to put UConn up 27. The big three of Stewart, Jefferson, and Tuck were subbed out with 1:46 left. Big hugs awaited from the coaching staff as the UConn faithful gave the legendary trio a standing ovation.
The three seniors combined for 56 points, 20 rebounds, and 16 assists in the National Championship game.
As if the night couldn’t get more memorable, walk-on senior Briana Pulido hit a corner jumper right in front of the UConn bench on the Huskies’ last possession to finalize the score at 82-51.
Syracuse made a surprising run through the tournament field to reach the final as a four seed. Their play has been anchored by juniors Alexis Peterson and Brittney Sykes. The duo averaged 40 points combined per game in the tourney.
However, the UConn defense held them to just 23 combined points and the Orange offense just couldn’t hang with UConn. Peterson had to leave the game in the 4th quarter when she dislocated her shoulder fighting for a loose ball.
The Huskies out-rebounded the Orange 43 to 27, making Syracuse go one-and-done on almost every possession. Stewart was anchoring the inside on the defensive end all night, pulling down 10 boards and quickly making great outlet passes to start numerous UConn fast breaks.
Stewart was also dominant on the offensive end, scoring 24 points and dishing out six assists. The win makes the entire UConn basketball program a perfect 15 for 15 in national title games, with the men also winning in all four appearances.
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Regardless of what one might think UConn’s dominance is doing for the women’s game, the consistency night in and night out required by the lady Huskies to 4-peat should be appreciated by any sports fan.