After UConn’s first two losses to Notre Dame and USC in December, Geno Auriemma wasn’t too bothered. Instead of lighting into his team, he just offered a shrug and a what-can-do-about-it attitude.
“We cut it to two at the end of the third quarter and I thought we were pretty good shape,” he said after Notre Dame. “Then we gave up an open three at the end there, that really hurt us.”
“I'm really, really proud of the team that they came out of the locker room to play in the second half. Kind of disappointed and not at all happy with the team that came out to start the game. So we got to we got to figure out what the difference is between those two teams,” he said after USC.
The approach made sense. The Huskies came into the season knowing they were a work in progress given all the new pieces playing together. They also weren’t at full strength yet with Azzi Fudd a non-factor (she missed Notre Dame and barely played against USC) and Aubrey Griffin still not back.
It was also early in the year. Ripping into a young, shorthanded team at that point ran the risk of torching their confidence. That wouldn’t have done any good.
The same doesn’t apply to UConn’s loss at Tennessee on Thursday, though. The Huskies were finally fully healthy — Fudd has played in 13 straight games, her longest such stretch since her freshman year. Griffin also looked like her old self for the first time since returning from a torn ACL and gave the team quality minutes with nine points and four rebounds. The built-in excuses were gone.
Following the defeat, Auriemma took a noticeably different tone.
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