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UConn women get No. 2 Seed in Seattle Regional, open against Vermont

carl adamec, journal inquirer, manchester, conn.
·7 min read

Mar. 13—STORRS — While looking at the history of the NCAA tournament, the UConn women's basketball team has made more of it than anyone. The Huskies' 11 national championships, 22 Final Four appearances including 14 in a row, and 28 straight Sweet 16 berths and first-round wins are all records.

UConn is making its 34th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and is the No. 2 seed in the Seattle 3 Regional. It will host 15th-seeded America East Conference champion Vermont Saturday at Gampel Pavilion with the winner advancing to a second-round game against either No. 7 Baylor or 10th-seeded Alabama a week from tonight.

The Big East champion Huskies (29-5) enter with history on their side. Every time UConn has lost at the Final Four, the next time the city it lost in hosted the Final Four, the Huskies have won the national championship. Dallas is the 2023 Final Four host and the last time UConn played at the American Airlines Center was the 2017 Final Four semifinals when it fell to Mississippi State in overtime, ending its 111-game winning streak and its four-year reign as national champion.

"I'm excited to do it with this team after everything we've been through," UConn guard Lou Lopez Sénéchal said. "I think we deserve to be where we are and have this opportunity. After playing in the NCAA tournament with another team last year and that it's going to happen again this year with this team is just super-exciting."

Southeastern Conference champion and reigning national champion South Carolina is the overall No. 1 seed with Big Ten regular-season champion Indiana seeded second overall. They will be the top seeds in the two Greenville (South Carolina) regionals. Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech is the third overall seed and No. 1 to the Huskies in the Seattle 3 Regional. The final No. 1 seed in Seattle 4 is Pac-12 regular-season co-champion Stanford.

The Big East got five teams — UConn, Villanova, Creighton, Marquette, and St. John's — into the Field of 68, the most since conference realignment 10 years ago.

"Five Big East teams, that's a hell of a thing, right, because people tend to not give our conference a lot of respect," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "All I know is our record last year in the tournament was a lot better than some of the conferences that get too much respect, if you ask me. And I think that may have had something to do with it when you look at how our teams did in the tournament last year."

UConn reached the national championship game, Creighton got to the Elite Eight as a No. 10 seed, and Villanova advanced to the second round a year ago.

The Huskies, though, weren't completely rewarded for playing one of the top non-conference schedules in the country. Ten of the 11 teams they faced outside the Big East are in the NCAA field. The only exception is Northeastern, which lost in the CAA tournament semifinals.

"If we weren't called UConn, we'd be a number one seed," Auriemma said. "Or if they used the men's criteria, when you think about the wins that we've had in quadrant one, two, all that ... Who has a better record than us against those teams? So being the number two, I'm kind of happy we are. There were a lot of teams that had great years and the four number ones, they all did great things this year or they wouldn't be number one seeds. I'm pretty proud of our team for accomplishing what we did.

"Our strength of schedule was incredible. Our wins were more than anybody else's against teams that were seeded pretty high. So I think we're pretty well prepared, we're pretty well tested. The face that so many of our players have played so many minutes, I think they're hardened a bit."

By the time UConn faces Vermont, which earned its tournament spot Friday by beating Albany 38-36 in the America East final, it will be 12 days since it beat Villanova in the Big East final. The Huskies had 10 players available in the tournament for the first time since Nov. 14 and should be as healthy as they've been for the Catamounts.

The biggest concern last week was for forward Aubrey Griffin, who left the Villanova game early in the third quarter with back spasms.

"I'm doing better and I'll be ready," Griffin said. "I'll continue to do my rehab and doing whatever I can for it. It's the same rehab, just a little more intense probably."

UConn also welcomed back guard Azzi Fudd to the lineup at the tournament after playing just 32 minutes since Dec. 4 with a pair of right knee injuries. While she still showed rust, her return gave her teammates a boost and her presence was felt.

"My knee is feeling good. The three games in a row was a lot so I personally have enjoyed this week," Fudd said with a smile.

"The break has given me a little bit of consistency with practice and more of an opportunity to play with the girls before the tournament, get that chemistry going again and get that rhythm going. The time between games as made me more excited for the next game."

The Huskies' meeting with Vermont (25-6) will be their second in NCAA tournament play. They defeated the Catamounts 104-65 to begin its run to the 2009 national championship. UConn has won all 11 meetings with Vermont.

The Catamounts are coached by Alisa Kresge. They are led in scoring and in assists by senior guard Emma Utterback. Vermont has six international players on its 15-player roster.

UConn and Baylor have met twice in the NCAA tournament with the Huskies winning a 2010 national semifinal and a 2021 regional final. UConn and Alabama's only NCAA tournament contest was in 1995 when the Huskies walloped the Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16 en route to their first title.

Ohio State is seeded third in the Seattle 3 Regional with Tennessee fourth.

"After you see the first regional and you put two and two together, you have a pretty good idea of where you're going to be," Auriemma said. "You don't know exactly who you're playing yet but it was a little surprise we're going to Seattle. But you first have to win two games and regardless of what region you're in, job number one is to win two games.

"There are no easy games in the NCAA tournament and this year is no exception."

VERMONT

Record: 25-6 (14-2 America East)

Seed: 15

Nickname: Catamounts

Conference: America East

Bid: Automatic

Best win: 64-34 over Patriot League tournament champion Holy Cross on Dec. 20, 2022

Last 10 games: 10-0

Tournament history: 1-6 (a first-round win over Wisconsin in 2010)

Coach: Alisa Kresge (fourth year, 61-37)

Key Players: 5-8 G Emma Utterback (14.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.2 apg); 6-1 F Anna Olson (11.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg); 5-8 G Catherine Gilwee (10.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg).

Fast facts: The Catamounts have won 17 in a row, their longest winning streak since they entered the 1993 NCAA tournament unbeaten (28-0) ... Utterback was the Most Outstanding Player of the America East tournament after scoring 18 points in Friday's 38-36 championship game win over Albany ... Vermont coach Kresge was a point guard at Marist when the Huskies opened the season with the Red Foxes in the 2005 Preseason WNIT. UConn won 71-45.

For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.