UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and associate head coach Chris Dailey receive recognition from UConn president Radenka Maric, left, during a ceremony honoring them on Wednesday. Auriemma won his 1,217th game with the Huskies, the most by any college basketball coach in history.
Jessica Hill | AP photo
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STORRS, Conn. — Geno Auriemma soaked in the moment. The UConn Hall of Fame coach now stands alone atop the NCAA college basketball all-time wins list.
Auriemma broke a tie with former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, earning his 1,217 career victory with an 85-41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night.
“We never sat down and said hey let’s make a 40-year plan and see if we can make this happen,” Auriemma said. “It’s about coming here every day and trying to be better than we were yesterday.”
He has spent four decades building UConn into the standard for women’s basketball. The school celebrated those 40 years Wednesday night.
Surrounded by the greatest players in UConn history, including Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo, Auriemma and longtime assistant Chris Dailey took in the incredible achievement in a postgame ceremony.
“It’s not very often in life you get to experience something that’s never been done before and that you get to experience something that will never be done again,” Lobo said.
More than 60 alums of the program were in attendance. Nearly two dozen of them played in the WNBA. The former UConn players were part of the record 11 national championships that the school has won. UConn has reached the Final Four 23 times, including in 15 of the past 16 seasons.
Before the game, the school presented the pair with ruby colored glass basketballs in honor of their 40 years at UConn. It was a day of celebrations for Auriemma and Dailey. There was a petting zoo with, fittingly, goats across from the arena as well as ice cream from the famous UConn Dairy Barn. They created a flavor “Legend-Berry Legacy” in honor of the two coaches.
Auriemma and Dailey received ladders from Nike and Connecticut governor Ned Lamont presented a sign that said “Welcome to Connecticut, home of the winningest coach in basketball history.”
His current team presented Auriemma with a framed jersey with the number 1,217 on it. The student section, during the final minute of the game, held up cards that spelled out 1,217.
“He gives credit to everybody around him, and he doesn’t really take it for himself,” Huskies star Paige Bueckers said. “But what he’s built here, it’s here because of him, so he definitely downplays it. He doesn’t want to do the whole thing: the celebration, the goats, the ice cream, it’s all extra to him. But he deserves it, and we want to celebrate him, because he doesn’t celebrate himself a lot. So everyone around him will make sure they do that job.”
Auriemma began his journey with UConn in 1985 and currently is 1,216-162 in his career. He has only had one losing season in his career — his first one with the Huskies. Before he came to the school from Virginia, the program had only one winning season.
VanDerveer offered her congratulations to Auriemma after the game.
“This is yet another outstanding milestone in a career filled with them for Geno Auriemma. The level of success he has maintained at UConn over four decades will never be duplicated,” she said in a statement. “But his tremendous legacy extends far beyond any number of wins. It lives in the lives of the countless young women he has positively influenced throughout his career. Congratulations to Geno and Chris on this incredible accomplishment.”
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 77,
CLEMSON 45
CLEMSON, S.C. — Te-Hina Paopao had 13 points and Ashlyn Watkins added 10 points and 11 rebounds as South Carolina set a school record with its 43rd straight win.
The Gamecocks (5-0) struggled to find the basket for about 15 minutes and trailed 17-12 midway through the second quarter before breaking off a 17-0 run to take control.
No. 4 TEXAS 83, TARLETON STATE 41
AUSTIN, Texas — Madison Booker scored 25 points to lead No. 4 Texas over Tarleton State.
Booker, an Associated Press preseason All-American, scored 20 in the first half, pacing Texas to a 53-23 lead at the break. Booker played nine minutes in the second half.
NORTHERN IOWA 87, NO. 8 IOWA STATE 75
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Maya McDermott scored a career-high 37 points and Kayla Laube added 21 as Northern Iowa upset Iowa State.
The Panthers (3-1) trailed 53-45 with 7:36 left in the third quarter before going on a 31-7 run over the next 12:17.
Audi Crooks led Iowa State (4-1) with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
NO. 12 OHIO STATE 106, OHIO 42
ATHENS, Ohio — Elsa Lemmila had a career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds, and fellow freshman Jaloni Cambridge scored all 19 of her points in the first half when No. 12 Ohio State built a 40-point lead en route to a victory over Ohio.
Ohio State scored the opening 17 points of the game and cruised. Cambridge reached 19 points, on 9-of-11 shooting, with 4:29 remaining in the second quarter to give the Buckeyes a 45-16 lead.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PENN STATE 102, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 89
STATE COLLEGE — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 25 points and distributed 11 assists and Yanic Konan Niederhauser recorded a double-double and Penn State beat Purdue Fort Wayne 102-89 on Wednesday night.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Zach Hicks scored 17 points, reserve Nick Kern Jr. 13 and Freddie Dilione V and Puff Johnson and 11 apiece.
Undefeated Penn State (5-0) shot 34 of 61 (55.7%) distributing 25 assists.
Jalen Jackson scored a career-high 31 points, reserve Corey Handnot II scored a career-high 20 and Eric Mulder 12 on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds for the Mastodons.
Baldwin’s 3-pointer with 13 minutes remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 64-62 lead and they led for the remainder. Hicks’ 3 with 8:21 left gave Penn State its first double-digit advantage of the game at 81-69.
Purdue Fort Wayne built a 47-36 lead late in the second half when it outscored the Nittany Lions 16-7 in just under three minutes. Quinton Morton-Robertson buried a 3 and Baldwin sank a pair of free throws to reduce the deficit and Purdue Fort Wayne led 47-41 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions are 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season.