The Guru Report: UConn Rout Earns Auriemma His 1200th Victory While New Big 12 Member BYU Upsets No. 18 Baylor

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

In a schedule oddity, for the second straight day there were no local teams in action Wednesday night, and dating back to Monday, just one, the Rutgers home loss to Maryland in the Big Ten.

 

However, there were two on the limited national slate worthy of lead-off attention.

 

Up North in Hartford, Connecticut, UConn won easily in the Big East, beating Seton Hall 67-34 making Hall of Fame Huskies Coach Geno Auriemma the third men’s or women’s mentor and second this season to reach 1,200 career victories. 

 

Last month Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer passed retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski’s total of 1,202, to become the all-time NCAA winner and the Hall of Famer now stands at 1,206 with her No. 6 Cardinal heading into Friday night’s Pac-12 game at Washington in Seattle.

 

The Associated Press reported the reflection by Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, back to 1987, occurring over Central Connecticut, part of a doubleheader with the men and perhaps 50 watching the women’s game in Hartford.

 

On Wednesday night, the stand-alone game more than 14,000 fans were in the same building watching a team that became a national phenomenon winning a record 11 NCAA titles.

 

“We created a subculture that didn't exist,” Auriemma said. “It wasn't there. And through a lot of hard work and a lot of people pulling a lot of hard work into it, a culture was born out of nothing.”

 

Auriemma reached the milestone in his 39^th season, while Krzyzewski did so in 47, when he retired, and VanDerveer is now in her 47^th season.

 

Additionally, Krzyzewski also coached at Army, while VanDerveer also coached at Idaho and Ohio State, while Auriemma has only worked at one school.

 

“What stands out to me is the totality of what he has built in Storrs,” said his former star Rebecca Lobo, who helped lead the Huskies to their first title in 1995 and has been a long-time analyst at ESPN. “The national championships, the league championships, the consecutive win streaks, the teams that seem to yearly get inducted into the Huskies of honor, the surefire Hall of Fame players.

 

“Twelve-hundred is amazing on its own, but when you look at it intertwined with everything else, it's mind boggling.”

 

Auriemma does not think he’ll finish No. 1 in wins, but he is within single digits of VanDerveer, whose team moves from the imploding Pac-22 to the ACC next season, when cross-country travel could become arduous.

 

The Huskies returned to easier travel several years ago when they rejoined the Big East.

 

In Wednesday’s game, UConn (20-4, 12-0), despite a slew of injuries, continued to dominate the Big East with a perfect conference record as Aaliyah Edwards had a double-double 18 points and 15 rebounds, Paige Bueckers had 13 points, and freshman Ashlynn Shade scored 17, shooting 5-10 from beyond the arc.

 

No one on Seton Hall (13-10, 5-7), scored in double figures.

 

On Sunday, the Huskies travel to No. 1 South Carolina, the nation’s lone unbeaten Division I team.

 

Elsewhere in the Big East, Marquette (18-5, 7-5) beat visiting Georgetown 52-38 in Milwaukee as Liza Karlen had 22 points and 10 rebounds against the visiting Hoyas (15-8, 5-7) and Frannie Hottinger scored 15.

 

Baylor Bounced: BYU, a new member of the Big 12 having left the West Coast Conference, at home in Provo, Utah, stunned No. 18 Baylor 78-66 as Lauren Gustin scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

 

Kailey Woolston had all 14 of her points in the second half for the Cougars (13-11, 3-8).

 

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 17 points off 8-10 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds for the visiting Bears (17-5, 6-5).

 

Elsewhere, in the Atlantic 10, Richmond thumped host Rhode Island 68-49 to move back into a first-place tie with Saint Joseph’s. The host Rams, the preseason pick, have several injuries.

 

In the American, Rice topped preseason favorite South Florida 69-59 in Tampa. USF visits Temple Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Liacouras Center (ESPN+).

 

Looking Ahead – Saint Joseph’s Showdown. The Hawks (21-2, 10-1), a perfect 10-0 on the road, Thursday night visit George Mason (18-3, 9-1) in Fairfax, Va., at 7 p.m. while in the other A-10 game La Salle hosts Loyola Chicago at 6:30 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena, both games on ESPN+.

 

Elsewhere locally, Rider in the MAAC visits Mount St. Mary’s at 4 p.m. on ESPN+ in Emmitsburg, Md.’

 

Penn State in the Big Ten visits No. 2 Iowa at 9 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Caitlin Clark on the host Hawkeyes is 66 points from breaking the NCAA career record held by former Washington star Kelsey Plum.

 

Nationally, Fairfield with one overall loss and a perfect MAAC record hosts Marist at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.

 

In the SEC, No. 1 South Carolina hosts Missouri at 7 p.m. on SECN, while at 9 p.m., No. 13 LSU visits Vanderbilt on the same conference network.

 

In the ACC, at 6 p.m., No. 12 Notre Dame visits No. No. 15 Louisville on ESPN, and at 8 p.m., No. 16 Virginia Tech visits No. 3 NC State on the ACCN.

 

And that’s the report.