Immaculate hardwood conception UConn rolls to national title By Riebeil Durley-Petty

Some things in life are certain. If you live long enough and have a career you’ll have to pay taxes. The sun will shine in the east. The moon will come out at night to radiate the darkness. Babies will be born and lovers will experience joy and scorn. And every few years UConn head women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma will lead the Lady Huskies to an undefeated season.

Last Tuesday night in St. Louis UConn completed their yearlong nationwide demolition derby of the women’s college hoop landscape with a 76-54 throttling of the hardy, gutty Louisville Lady Cardinals to finish 39-0. Junior center and 2nd Team All-American Tina Charles led UConn with a monstrous 25 point, 19 rebound game. Naismith Player of the Year Maya Moore had a typically stellar floor game finishing with 18 points and First-Team All-American Renee Montgomery contributed 18 points and 4 dimes.

UConn winning the national title is one of the biggest formalities in the history of sports. The Lady Huskies epitomized dominance throughout the entire season. They went relatively uncontested all year, dogwalking their opponents by a mind-blowing 33 points a game. That’s a preposterously astronomical number! UConn’s closest call was a 10 point win over Notre Dame. They didn’t have one single-digit victory all season. That’s the definition of sheer, unabated annihilation.

Coach Auriemma has manufactured UConn’s Storrs, Connecticut campus into a celestial basketball kingdom. Auriemma has captured 6 national championships, reached 10 Final Fours, made 16 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances and registered four straight 30 win seasons. The Lady Huskies roundball sensei has amassed 697 victories and won 85 percent of the games he’s coached. Only Tennessee’s Pat Summit, who began her coaching career 10 years earlier, has eclipsed Auriemma in wins (1005) and national title hardware (8). Though he may be a bit brazen, pompous and not the most loveable at times, Auriemma is indisputably one of the top two women’s college hoop coaches ever.

UConn’s unparalleled brilliance this season has sparked debate among college pundits as to whether this is the greatest women’s college basketball assemblage of all-time. Yes, the Huskies went unsullied, but don’t get it tangled and automatically assume they’re the dopest team in the history of women’s college basketball. They’re not the only team to go through a season unscathed. Auriemma’s 1994-95 Lady Huskies were the first team to achieve perfection with the current scholarship format. They were the first real super-team stacked with remarkable talent from top to bottom. Led by National Player of the Year Rebecca Lobo, UConn went 35-0 defeating Tennessee in the title game. The Huskies also featured Kodak All-American point guard and shooting guards Jennifer Rizzotti and NyKesha Sales, and future All-American center Kara Walters. This group is largely credited with being the most instrumental in helping

popularize women’s college hoops.

In 1997-98 Summit lady Volunteers achieved immortality with their 39-0 season of hardwood invincibility. Tennessee had one the most dynamically diverse trios ever to lace a pair of women’s Nike Air’s. Spearheaded by four time Kodak All-American and Naismith Player of the Chamique Holdsclaw, All-American Tamika Catchings and future All-American Semeka Randall, together the “Three Meeks” helped the Lady Vols wreck their opponents by an average of 30 points a game. Their aggressive trapping defense and frenzied, and push and swoosh style left foes twisted like a pretzel and helped them snatch their third consecutive national title.

The last unbeaten crew was Auriemma’s 2001-02 Lady Huskies. Naismith Player of the Year Sue Bird, First Team-All-Americans Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi, Second Team All-American Ashja Jones and Honorable Mention All-American Tamika Williams were the chief characters and together were dubbed the TASS Force. The quintet is widely regarded as the greatest starting lineup in women’s college hoop history, with the only team to boast four All-Americans. The Lady Huskies won the first of three straight national championships with a 38-0 record. UConn went relatively unchallenged as well, bulldozing opponents by nearly 30 points and only had one single-digit win. Their versatility and aggressiveness enabled them to win in a variety of ways from a running and gunning, to a bump and grind half-court affair.

The one advantage the current UConn edition would have over each of these teams is the sensational Maya Moore. Many people believe Moore is the most gifted female baller ever and has the chance to redefine the game with her offensive skill set, rebounding and overall eclectic rawness. However, each of the three aforementioned squads has remarkable hoopers as well that collectively could cancel Moore’s individual greatness.

Personally, if I had to choose the best crew I’d rock with the 2001-02 Lady Huskies because their starting five was so complete and practically impeccable. Which team is the best subjective and there’s really no definitive argument, but that’s what makes it so much fun. Each of these teams is phenomenal and deserves all the recognition they get.

But for now we give big ups to and celebrate the flawless excellence of the 2009 Lady Huskies. And UConn returns all they’re starters other than Renee Montgomery. Women’s college basketball be terrified because the destruction may have only just begun.