Connecticut is back in the Final Four.
The No. 3 seed Huskies, one of the most dominant teams in all of sports history, missed last season's national semifinal for the first time in 15 years, but found redemption when they beat Southern California, 80-73, for another chance at a title.
The program is led by junior guard Paige Bueckers, who has seven straight games with at least 20 points. It is a redemption year for her, too, after she missed last season with a torn ACL.
Head coach Geno Auriemma is in his 39th season at the helm of the Huskies. He's worked with basketball icons Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Rebecca Lobo and Breanna Stewart to put UConn on the map of historic programs.
The Huskies will face Caitlin Clark and top-seeded Iowa in the Final Four in Cleveland for their chance to play for another national championship.
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Here is UConn's Final Four history:
Connecticut has been to the Final Four 23 times, all under head coach Geno Auriemma. This is the record for most Final Four appearances of any team in Division I college basketball − men's or women's.
The Huskies' first trip to the Final Four was in 1991 when they lost in the semifinal to Virginia, 61-55. They've since gone back to the Final Four in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024. The tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their streak of 14 straight Final Four appearances from 2008 to 2022 was broken when Ohio State beat UConn, 73-61, in the Sweet 16 last season.
The Huskies have won 11 national championships, tied with the UCLA men's team for the most of any program in Division I college basketball, and all under head coach Geno Auriemma. Connecticut won the title in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Six of those seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2016) were undefeated.
''What those 11 championships mean to me is how many great players I've had the opportunity to coach,'' Auriemma said after winning the 2016 title. ''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.''
Connecticut has been to the national championship 12 times. The Huskies have won the title all but once, in 2022 when they lost to South Carolina, 64-49.
There is a possibility of a rematch of that game this year if the Huskies and Gamecocks each win their Final Four semifinal.
Connecticut captured its first title in 1995, beating Tennessee, 70-64, under head coach Geno Auriemma. The Huskies' 35-0 finish was their first of six undefeated seasons. The team was led by Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo, who averaged 17.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She went on to be an All-Star in the WNBA and won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA a year later. Point guard Jennifer Rizzotti tallied 12.5 points and 4.6 assists per outing that season and, after winning the championship, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, "Perfect!"
Connecticut won its second national championship in 2000, defeating Tennessee again, this time with a decisive score of 71-52 to get revenge for their lone loss of the season. Tamika Catchings and the Volunteers previously defeated the Huskies in the regular season as they finished 36-1. Junior guard Shea Ralph was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four and won the Honda Award, which was given to the top athlete in women's college basketball. After finishing her college career with 1,678 points, 456 assists and 252 steals, she later returned to the program as an assistant coach. A player named Sue Bird was also starting to spread her wings.
After being knocked out of the 2001 Final Four by Notre Dame, Geno Auriemma stormed right back to the Big Dance and kicked off a three-peat championship run. The first year of the streak, 2002, the Huskies beat Oklahoma, 82-70, to win their third title with a 39-0 finish. Swin Cash was named the Final Four's most outstanding player after putting up 20 points and 13 rebounds in the finale. Sue Bird was the national player of the year after averaging 14.4 points per game and 5.9 assists. She was then the No. 1 overall pick by the Seattle Storm and went on to win four WNBA championships.
The second of the Huskies' three straight championships came in 2003 when they beat Tennessee for a third time in the title game, this year's score was 73-68. With Sue Bird gone, Diana Taurasi took the reins and, in her junior season, she averaged a career-best 17.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. She was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Connecticut finished 37-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of Villanova in the Big East tournament championship game. The defeat snapped a 70-game win streak.
The last of the Huskies' three consecutive national titles was Diana Taurasi's third and last in 2004. Connecticut beat Tennessee a fourth time in the championship game, this time 70-61. Taurasi won back-to-back most outstanding player in the tournament and national player of the year awards − a first in program history. She also was the first Huskies player to notch 2,000 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds in her time with the school. Taurasi was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury where she won three WNBA championships. She's also the owner of five Olympic gold medals.
Connecticut's 2009 national championship team was among their most dominant. The won each of their 39 games by double digits and finished another season undefeated. They returned to the national championship game and beat Louisville 76-54 after being knocked out of the Final Four the year prior. Junior Tina Charles was the star of the season and had 25 points and 19 rebounds in the title game. She was named the Final Four most outstanding player. Sophomore Maya Moore added 18 points and nine rebounds in the final matchup and became the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 points when she did so in 55 games.
The Huskies won back-to-back titles yet again when they captured the 2010 championship. And it was another 39-0 undefeated season. Connecticut beat Stanford 53-47 for their seventh crown. Maya Moore had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the game. A most outstanding player title capped off her junior season where she averaged 18.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per outing. Moore would reach the Final Four again the next year, but fall short of a third national championship, before being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. She won four WNBA championships before leaving basketball to pursue social justice.
After two years falling short in the Final Four, Connecticut won its eighth national championship in 2013. They beat Louisville, 93-60, for the first of a four-peat title run, the Huskies' longest in program history. Freshman Breanna Stewart started her reign by scoring 23 points, grabbing nine rebounds and notching three blocks in the game and earned the Final Four most outstanding player award. She tallied 497 points and 74 blocks to put her fourth and third in program history among freshmen. Sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led the Huskies with 17.6 points per game and electrified the nation with 118 three-point buckets to help the team finish the season 35-4.
The Huskies served up another repeat championship in 2014 by beating Notre Dame, 79-58, in 2014 to finish a perfect 40-0. Breanna Stewart concluded her sophomore season with another most outstanding player nod with 21 points and nine rebounds in the title game after leading the team with 19.4 points and 2.8 blocks per game. Stefanie Dolson added 17 points and 16 boards in the finale. Junior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis suffered an elbow injury early in the season, but came back to record Connecticut's third triple-double − and the program's first in NCAA tournament play − when she notched 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Huskies' second-round victory over St. Joseph's.
The third of the Huskies' four straight championships came in 2015 with a 63-53 win over Notre Dame in a rematch of last year's title game. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 15 points in her senior finale and ended her college career as the all-time three-point shooter in women's college basketball history with 398 to her name. (Caitlin Clark now holds the record). Mosqueda-Lewis was the No. 3 overall pick in the WNBA draft to the Seattle Storm. Her future professional teammate, sophomore Breanna Stewart, added eight points and 15 rebounds in the title game for a third straight most outstanding player title. She led the team with 17.6 points and 7.8 rebounds during the season and the Huskies finished 38-1. Their lone loss came early in the season to Tara VanDerveer's Stanford in an overtime game.
Connecticut's four-peat dynasty ended with the 2016 national championship when they defeated Syracuse, 82-51. Their utterly commanding reign concluded with their last perfect season, a 38-0 record. The victory gave the school 75 straight wins, all by double digits. Breanna Stewart concluded her historic career as a member of the Huskies with 24 points and 10 rebounds in the title game. She was the only player in college basketball history to be named the Final Four most outstanding player four times. She led the team with 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. Her 2,676 career points were second in Connecticut history. Stewart was the No. 1 overall pick by the Seattle Storm in the 2016 WNBA draft. She won two championships, was named league MVP twice and was the first woman to have a signature shoe in more than a decade.
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