25 years ago today, the 1995 UConn women beat Tennessee for their first title

[eebmg]

Yup. Guessing that may make some ESPN reruns,

Nice quotes through the article from Geno, Lobo, Rizzotti, Berube, Tonya

“They were all smart. They all knew the game. They saw the game. They had a feel for the game. They had a feel for each other. They had tremendous rapport with each other," Auriemma said. "We had great leadership. And they were competitive as hell. We had a couple guys that just had to win. They had to be right about everything. And that carried over.

It was 25 years ago when the 1995 UConn women beat Tennessee for their first title. Their legacy was just beginning.

Geno Auriemma was ecstatic when he got the call that Rebecca Lobo had decided to play for him at UConn. After all, she was the best center in the country and had chosen to spend the next four years…

www.courant.com

 

[oldude]

A day that will live in INFAMY, at least in Knoxville.......

 

[oldude]

Yea. Terrible season in Storrs. The Huskies lost 3 games and ended up ranked 5th in the nation.....

 

[Steelerone]

The orange was blue that day. And in Women's basketball Dr. Geno Frankenstien's monster was born.

 

[Blueconn]

The Silver Anniversary of a genuine watershed moment. Trying to recapture it in words is so very hard. Recall of the feelings opens the door to incredible memories. Hearing the opening stanza of the UConn fight song never gets old.

 

[CL82]

The youngsters on this board (if there are any) can't really appreciate what a watershed moment that was. Little Connecticut had taken the best shots of the best programs in the country and walked away the national champion. And we did it in a way that captured the national attention and changed the way woman's sports are perceived forever.

Huge, huge moment.

 

[Waquoit]

I was in Vegas that weekend and watching the semi-final game at the bar in the sportsbook when a tall, fit guy and his two pre-school daughters were walking by. "Hold it" he says, "I want to check the score of the Stanford game." Always happy to help I said "UConn by 25!" "Let's go, girls"

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The officiating of that game had me about beside myself that day, but what a glorious day it was in the end. Really was great to see fans turn out for the return flight and the ride to campus.

 

[Tonyc]

You can get the idea what it was like to play Tenn when all the fouls were being called on UConn gettign their key players in foul trouble which kept them from playing the kind of defense they played and kept them on the bench for alot of the game. Those things didnt change much over the years for any team that played Tenn. We won that game after being down 9 pts early in the second half and won by 6 a 15 pt turn around with all those stars in foul trouble. Jens steal late in the game made it almost impossible for the refs to all more fouls on UConn as Tenn was forced to foul to get the ball back. I remember referring to the Rutgers game as Clockwork Orange. That game Rutgers lead at Tenn and the time keeper forgot to start the clock and Tenn got numerous shots only to the point where they called a foul on RU and Tenn made the foul shots and won the game. By the time everybody realized the clock started late the game was over. How bout the Baylor game with 2/10ths of a second left and while Baylor and Tenn scrambled for the ball a foul was called on Baylor and Tenn made their foul shots to win the game and go on to meet UConn in the NC game. There were numerous calls where Tenn went to the line 30+ times more then their opponent.

 

[Alydar]

The officiating of that game had me about beside myself that day, but what a glorious day it was in the end. Really was great to see fans turn out for the return flight and the ride to campus.

I watched the game last night. While I like the way Kantner calls games today she was horrible earlier in her career. It was as if she felt that she needed to control game and she put endless posts on the bench early in games for BS fouls and then later in the game she would let muggings go. This game was a perfect example. Years later it would be a game against Stanford when both Charles and Appell(?) were on the bench 7 minutes into the game with foul trouble. She has matured in the last 6 years to where the game is no longer about her.

Another thing I saw last night and also saw watching other old games is the fact that those teams weren't as flawless and dominate as I remember them being. They made all the same mistakes that they make today. The main difference was with the energy level they played at. This year that energy re-appeared in their last half dozen games. When UConn can dictate the tempo of the game (quick) they are in charge. When they turn into a plodding half-court team they look very average.

 

[Waquoit]

Lobo earned her rep that game. She was awesome.

 

[eebmg]

The athletic has a fantastic writeup with Dailey, Geno and Lobo (and alot of others) reminiscing about the perfect storm

‘A perfect storm’: An oral history of the UConn team that changed women’s hoops

The Huskies' 35-0 season, capped with a 1995 championship win over Tennessee, launched a dynasty and women's basketball legacy.

theathletic.com

Opposing coach quotes are the best

The season started on Nov. 26 with a 107-27 rout of Morgan State. The Huskies won their first Big East game, against a Villanova team that would finish third in the conference, by 38 on Dec. 4. UConn scored 98 points on the road at NC State six days later, showing how potent that triangle offense could be. On Dec. 28, the Huskies hosted California — the team that had beaten them in Lobo and Webber’s first game as freshmen — and won by 47.

Joe Mullaney, St. John’s head coach: You went into the games hoping you could keep them within 30 or 40 points.

Pat Knapp, Georgetown head coach: There are too many good players on that team. They were ridiculous. Game-planning against them was brutal.


and the MLK game against TN

Auriemma: I didn’t show them any film. Going into that game, they had no idea of any personnel. They didn’t know anything. And I didn’t care. I didn’t want them to know.

The practice before the game was maybe as intense, as brutal in terms of how they went after each other as any practice I’ve ever seen. I remember stopping it and saying, “We’re good to go, guys. Let’s go.”


Interesting quote by ESPN Producer after MLK game

Stiff: At the end of the game, I’m watching Geno elated talking to the media, and then I walk down the long corridor at Gampel Pavilion and there was Pat standing outside the locker room with the stat sheet in front of her. She looked up with a very stern look in her eyes and said, “For the good of the game.”



The championship game

Dailey: Tennessee still tried to intimidate our players in the warmups when we were stretching. I look back now and it makes me laugh, but when it was happening, I was like, “Who do they think they are?”

Rizzotti: I remember coming out for warmups and they were sitting on our side of the court and I had to kick them off. No one had clearly ever done that to them before. That set the tone for us.


Final clinching play

Auriemma: That morning, we went over when we’ve got to get the ball inbounds, here’s what’s going to happen. La-dee-da. Now they’re coming over (to the huddle) with the pressure of the game and the intensity of the moment, my life flashed before my eyes. I’m thinking to myself, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what are we gonna do now?”

I kept eliminating people as they were running over. I ain’t giving this ball to Rizzotti because she’s so jacked up right now, she’s liable to bite the ball. I’m not giving it to Jamelle, she’ll start crying because she wants to win so bad. And I’m not going to put Nykesha in that spot because she’s only a freshman. I’ve got the perfect person: Carla Berube.

 

[Waquoit]

"I’ve got the perfect person: Carla Berube."

Was that Geno or the Princeton AD?