INDIANAPOLIS — There were 11 seconds left when Connecticut senior walk-on Briana Pulido pulled up and hit a jumper from the left corner to make the final score 82-51.
The drubbing against Syracuse was nearly over and the all the Huskies’ stars were on the bench. But there was never a moment when the entire team was more excited than this one. As soon as Pulido sank her shot, senior All-Americans Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck erupted in hysteria. Falling over each other, cheering louder than they had at any other point in the game.
When you’re beating opponents by 31 points in title games, you’re allowed to be this ecstatic for your bench players who score in the final seconds. UConn won its fourth consecutive national championship — and an NCAA-record 11th title for the program — in front of a crowd of 14,514 that heavily favored the Huskies at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
But how long can UConn go on like this?
Much has been said — over the last several weeks in particular — about the unique bond and talent in Geno Auriemma’s senior class comprised of Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck. Together, they’ve gone 151-5 over their four years to become the winningest group of all time. In their fourth title game, they combined for 56 points.
This trio is expected to go 1-2-3 in the WNBA draft after Tuck announced Wednesday she will forgo her final season of eligibility (she received a medical redshirt following her sophomore season due to injury and therefore has one more year). Once this group is gone, can the Huskies’ success continue in dynasty fashion?
“Yeah, this is UConn,” Stewart said. “We don’t rebuild, we reload and we do what we're supposed to do.”
Auriemma was a little more pragmatic. He understands that his program will go through a transition next season.
“These three leaving, the rest of the players coming back are in for a rude awakening,” he said. “But you can’t disregard what all this, the impact that it has on the players coming back. And it will last for a while. But then obviously it will, they have to earn it like these other guys.
“But we don’t have anybody in the program right now that’s a Stewie or a Tuck or a Moriah coming back. So it’s going to be really, really one of the more difficult adjustments that we’ve had in the time that I’ve been there. But it’s OK. I’m kind of looking forward to it. I really am. I’m really looking forward to it. There’s a lot of new stories to be written by our group.”
After Baylor lost to Oregon State in the Elite Eight last week, coach Kim Mulkey was compelled to give her thoughts on UConn’s dominance over the last decade. Unprompted, she told reporters that she didn’t understand how success could be bad for the game. Mulkey advised UConn to enjoy its run because it won’t last. Other teams are coming, she cautioned.
And she’s right. There were three first-timers in this year’s Final Four in Oregon State, Syracuse and Washington. The latter two were No. 4 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. Oftentimes in women’s basketball the No. 1 seeds are expected to be the last teams standing. This year’s top seeds Notre Dame, South Carolina and Baylor all lost early.
UConn’s recruiting isn’t changing. It’s still getting the players Auriemma wants to fit the system and the goal continues to be title-oriented. But parity is growing underneath and with these seniors graduating, teams are closer than they’ve ever been to catching up.
Like many coaches who have been in charge of a dynasty, Auriemma is hard to read. He smiles amongst his players when he is cutting down the nets, hoisting trophies and being carried into the locker room. But he’s stone-faced other times. Does he enjoy winning championships? Turns out he's already started working on next season.
“We have this thing up at school. When we go back, we all meet in the locker room at some point — tomorrow, the next day. And I throw the seniors out. I say, ‘Get out. This is not your team anymore,’” Auriemma said.
“So they leave, close the door behind them, and we start talking about the next year’s team. So how much do we enjoy it? I get a kick out of, when we win, the most I enjoy it is like August. I really, really enjoy it in August because I have nothing to do except think about how great it is. All the rest of the time there’s so much going on. But this summer, even with the Olympics, I’ll be thinking about this for a long time.
“But already we’ve had conversations already about next year. I had one of the kids in my office — Gabby Williams was in my office last week and she was a little bit emotional talking about next year. She goes, ‘I know I gotta be ready for next year and that’s why I want to play so well now.’ I said, ‘How about you play well now and let me worry about next year?’ But next year is never far from our minds. Let’s put it that way.”
Same thing goes for every team striving to catch UConn.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP
