UConn women notebook: Collen versus Huskies a family affair

Mar. 20—STORRS — Through 153 games and 34 appearances in the NCAA tournament, there isn't much the UConn women's basketball hasn't seen or done. But the second-seeded Huskies will have a different experience tonight when they host No. 7 Baylor in a Seattle 3 Regional second-round game at Gampel Pavilion.

The Bears are coached by Nicki Collen, who is in her second season. Collen's husband, Tom, was the coach at Colorado State when the Rams played UConn here in 2001. That makes the Collens the first husband/wife to coach against the Huskies in separate NCAA tournament games.

Husband/wife Bill Nepfel and Mary Hile-Nepfel were co-coaches when San Francisco faced UConn in the 1996 Sweet 16.

"Small world, right?" UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Sunday. "The basketball community is tight-knit. You never know who you'll be around whether it's former players that I recruited or coached against. That has to be something that isn't normal. That has to be something that is unique."

UConn defeated Colorado State 89-44 on March 19, 2001 to advance to the Sweet 16. Nicki Collen, in her first season on her future husband's staff, did the radio broadcast for the listeners back in the Fort Collins area.

"I remember our plan was to let Asjha Jones shoot it because we knew that we couldn't stop anyone else," Collen said. "She started the game with a banked-in three. We knew we were in trouble right then.

"Tom certainly remembers it well. He remembers the upset win in the first round (against Maryland). Then we lost by 40 and that might have been UConn's most talented team. But I relish opportunities to compete against the best and this is one of those opportunities, no matter how many years apart it is."

Tom Collen — who compiled a 349-160 record at Colorado State, Louisville, and Arkansas — coached against Auriemma for two seasons when the Cardinals joined the Huskies in the Big East in 2005-06.

After two seasons as an assistant at Colorado State, Nicki Collen went to Ball State for one season and was on her husband's staffs at Louisville (2003-04) and Arkansas (2011-14). In the break in between the latter two jobs she gave birth to the couple's three children. She was at Florida Gulf Coast (2014-16) for two seasons then joined the WNBA Connecticut Sun as an assistant for two years. She got her first head coaching job with the Atlanta Dream in 2018 and was the WNBA Coach of the Year in 2018. She was hired at Baylor in 2021 after Kim Mulkey left for LSU.

"I think back to my start and Tom's staff that I was on with Curt Miller and Reagan Pebley and Becky Hammon was a grad assistant," Collen said. "I got to learn from a lot of really good people. Tom always had a good eye in recruiting for players and for people who could coach.

"It's such a meandering path how I got here versus how a lot of females in this possession go from player to assistant coach to head coach. I played the mom role. I played radio commentator, TV commentator. Ultimately it's a love of basketball."

Baylor (20-12) will have some momentum as it rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat Alabama 78-74 Saturday. The Bears are looking to return to the Sweet 16 after having a 12-year streak snapped a year ago.

"It's great for our team to experience this environment," Collen said. "Everyone on my team has grown up with the UConn name at the top. This idea of getting to compete regardless of year is a really cool thing."

Passing fancy

From the 1974-75 through 2021-22 seasons, there were 54 double-figure assists games at UConn. Jill Brumbaugh (1985-88) had the most in a career (5) and three players — Brumbaugh (1987-88), Sandy Gavin (1981-82), and Crystal Dangerfield (2018-19) — had the most in a season (3).

Then Nika Mühl came along. The junior point guard, who has set single-game and single-season school assist record this year, had 10 assists in Saturday's 95-52 rout of Vermont for her 11th double-figure assists game of the season.

"When you ask me how that happens, I really don't have an answer," Mühl said. "It's all so surreal to me. I look at the numbers, and not that I'm focused on the numbers but I see and hear about them, and I think I do have a good feel for when and where to make the pass to my teammates.

"They're my girls and they're great scorers and they knock down shots for me."

Mühl's single-season assist record is at 269 and counting and with 418 career assists she is tied with Ann Strother for 21st all-time at UConn. No. 20 is Breanna Stewart (426).

Building blocks

Vermont's Paula Gonzalez made a steal of a Mühl pass and thought she'd get a layup with the Catamounts down by 44 with 2:25 to go. But Inês Bettencourt would not have it as the UConn freshman raced back and swatted the ball into the student section.

The fans and the bench went crazy. Dorka Juhász mouthed, "Oh my God" and signaled for a replay to be shown, which it was.

"It was mind-blowing," Juhász said. "We didn't know that she'd sprint down and make a play. We were so excited for her.

"She's that type of player. She might make a mistake or commit a turnover. But she'll always make a hustle play."

It was the third block of the season for the 5-foot-9 guard, all coming in the last four games she's played. Her first block came against Xavier all-Big East freshman team pick Fernanda Ovalle in the first half of the regular season finale on Feb. 27. The second came in the fourth quarter of the Big East tournament semifinal on March 5 when she got a block on Marquette all-Big East freshman team selection Mackenzie Hare.

Husky bites

Former UConn great Maya Moore and her husband Jonathan Irons will have a signing for their book "Love and Justice" today from 4:30-5:45 p.m. at the UConn Student Union. ... Per a source, UConn and Baylor have talked about a possible future home-and-home series. The earliest start would be in the 2024-25 season so the team would be made up of all Collen's recruits. Baylor is also opening a new basketball complex, Foster Pavilion, sometime in 2024.

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.