Why UConn's championship drought didn't bother Geno much

The Huskies went nine years without a national title, their longest such stretch since winning their first in 1995.

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Daniel Connolly
April 17, 2025

Photo: Ian Bethune

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Why UConn's championship drought didn't bother Geno much

Between 1995-2016, UConn owned women’s basketball. The Huskies won 11 of 22 national championships in that span, never going more than four seasons without one. They claimed four out of five between 2000-04 then captured six of out eight from 2009-2016 while becoming the first team ever to win four straight.

UConn was unbelievably dominant during the latter stretch. It put together back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2009 and 2010 then added two more in 2014 and 2016. The Huskies compiled a record-setting 111-game win streak and went a staggering 208 games without a regulation loss.

But after Breanna Stewart graduated with four rings in 2016, those national championships suddenly proved elusive. UConn went nine years without one, its longest such drought since capturing the first, before winning their 12th title earlier this month.

It’s not as if the Huskies fell off, either. They were still in the Final Four on a near-annual basis.

The reasons UConn kept coming up short varied. From 2017-19, it had the talent but couldn’t get over the hump in the national semifinal. For a few years, the rosters simply weren’t good enough. From 2022-24, injuries ravaged the Huskies.

When UConn finally had a semblance of a full squad in 2025, it won it all. That’s no coincidence.

“We would have won a couple more but circumstances conspired against us, so it is what it is,” Geno Auriemma said. “The only time I look back is when I want to fix whatever mistakes I made. Other than that, a lot of those Final Fours, those championships, losing those didn't bother me that much when we didn't have our full team. If we'd have lost this one with our whole team, that would have bothered me tremendously.”

During the dark years, two losses stuck out in the coach’s mind: Mississippi State in 2017 and Notre Dame in 2018. Both times, UConn lost on a buzzer-beater in overtime. Auriemma isn’t haunted by those endings, though.

“The Mississippi State game, the Notre Dame game, I don't look at those two as heartbreaking frustrations,” he said. “Now, I would have if I didn't make two decisions in both of those games that I think had more to do with us losing than those two buzzer-beaters. So that's the frustration that I take away from that: ‘Why do you keep screwing it up for these guys?’”

While Auriemma didn’t specify what those mistakes were, it’s easy to guess.

In 2017, UConn entered the Final Four undefeated. Although Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck all graduated, the Huskies kept rolling with a core of Kia Nurse, Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. They won all but two games by double-digits that season.

Then came Mississippi State. The Bulldogs landed the first punch and went up by 16 in the second quarter, only for UConn to roar back and re-take the lead in the third. In overtime, the Huskies tied the game and got the ball with 26 seconds left after a flagrant foul on Mississippi State. They could hold for the final shot and either win it on the last possession or force a second overtime.

Instead, Saniya Chong drove to the basket with 15 seconds left, panicked when a defender closed in and threw up an ill-advised shot that missed the rim entirely and went out of boards with 14 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Morgan William hit a buzzer-beater to finish off a stunning upset.

If UConn never gave Mississippi State the ball back, perhaps the final result would’ve been different. Had the Huskies made it to the championship game, there’s little doubt they would’ve handled South Carolina — a team they beat by 11 earlier in the season.

The next year, UConn faced Notre Dame in the Final Four with virtually the same roster — only swapping Chong for Azura Stevens. The contest followed a similar script. The Fighting Irish jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter before the Huskies answered to take a seven-point advantage into the locker room.

Stevens was central to that turnaround. Once she stepped on the floor, UConn out-scored Notre Dame 30-17 the rest of the half.

Yet when the third quarter began, Stevens was on the bench and inexplicably remained there for the first 6:25 of the half. When she finally checked back in, the Huskies’ lead had dwindled to two. UConn eventually lost on a buzzer-beater in overtime for the second year in a row.

The Huskies were +3 with Stevens on the court and -7 without her in a two-point loss. The decision to sit her after halftime might’ve cost the team a national championship.

“I think those two shots were the result of two bad decisions and they capitalized on it,” Auriemma said.

From there, the losses became a lot more palatable.

In 2019, UConn and Notre Dame met for a rematch at the Final Four. This time, there were no scapegoats or obvious blunders. Two great teams battled for 40 minutes and the Fighting Irish came out on top. There’s no shame in a loss like that.

The 2020 Huskies never got a chance to compete for the national title after the Covid-19 pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament, though they weren’t going to make a run anyways. Earlier that season, they played three best teams in the nation — Oregon, Baylor and South Carolina — and were completely outmatched, losing each by 15+ points.

The following year, UConn had a young and inexperienced roster that didn’t feature a single senior. It still reached the Final Four but underestimated 3-seed Arizona and lost by 10. That defeat was supposed to be a stepping stone towards future success.

“I believe that what we learned this year, through all the ups and downs, is going to really benefit us for the next couple of years,” he said. “I remember saying that in 2008. We played and we lost to Stanford in the semifinal it was Maya Moore's freshman year. I said, ‘We'll be back,’ and we went back and we were undefeated the next two seasons. I don't think that's going to happen but we'll be back here sooner rather than later.”

That didn’t pan out as injuries devastated the Huskies’ roster.

They made a surprise run to the national championship in 2022 but were overmatched by arguably South Carolina’s best team ever. Paige Bueckers (knee), Caroline Ducharme (head), Azzi Fudd (illness), Olivia Nelson-Ododa (groin) were all limited while Aubrey Griffin (back) and Dorka Juhász (wrist) were out entirely. UConn only scored 49 points and lost by 15.

The next year, the Huskies’ 14-year Final Four streak ended. Bueckers missed the entire campaign with a torn ACL and Fudd was a shell of herself after missing most of the regular season with a pair of knee injuries. Lou Lopez Sénéchal gutted through an injury that ultimately wiped out her entire rookie year in the WNBA. UConn didn’t make it past the Sweet Sixteen.

A year ago, the Huskies fell to Iowa after Aaliyah Edwards was called for a moving screen with three seconds left. Even if they somehow pulled out a victory, they would’ve gotten blasted by undefeated South Carolina in the national championship. UConn had six season-ending injuries by the end.

Since the Huskies usually went further in the tournament than they were supposed to, Auriemma couldn’t get too upset when the ride eventually ended.

“Nothing's bothering me since those two games (against Mississippi State and Notre Dame), except that we can't show up here with a full team,” he said. “That's bothered me more than anything else.”

This season was different. UConn entered March with its most important pieces healthy and put it together at the perfect time. The Huskies marched to the national championship in dominant fashion and reminded everyone they still run the sport.

Most important, UConn has tasted winning again. It doesn’t plan on turning back.

“Let’s run it back next year,” Fudd said at the team’s championship parade.

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