When each player was in her collegiate prime, on paper 2001 UCONN was probably the most talented team of all time....but did not, however, produce as well as the 2000 or 2002 teams. At full strength they were pummeled by Notre Dame early in the season. Baylor lost a squeaker to Stanford without Sims and were ousted by a Louisville team that simply could not miss from 3. The only player on that UCONN team who had the best season of her college career in 2001 was Abrosimova. Ralph was a shadow of the player she was a year prior, Bird wasn't an All-American yet, Jones/Cash/Williams were all solid but not near the force they were in 2002, Taurasi wasn't an All-American caliber player yet. UCONN had more talent, but Notre Dame was a better team that year, they looked more cohesive on the court and the results spoke for themselves.
Despite the fact that 2013 Baylor wont win a championship, I think most people believe that Baylor was the best team in WCBB this year--I don't think people felt the same way during the 2001 season about UCONN. Baylor was the overwhelming favorites to repeat, in preseason and in the NCAA tournament, had the most dominant player in the history of the WCBB, and hadn't lost in 2 seasons with a healthy Sims. They knocked off UCONN and Notre Dame on the road and were never truly threatened when Sims was healthy.
