Could we mimic this great video about the UConn men's team?

[alexrgct]

Someone made this excellent compilation about the top 10 moments of UConn MBB.



Now, this was published in 2012, so there would presumably be an insertion of the 2014 championship. At the time this was made, the three NCs to UConn's credit were the top three moments of the program.

So what would we do with the women's program?

I had a few thoughts:

• All nine championships have to be on the list.
• If you're thinking of some non-championship moments at least to round out the top 10, you realize we need a top 15.
• Although it's perfectly reasonable that all championships be at the very top for the MBB video, I think a couple of non-NC winning moments on the women's side are ahead of some of the NCs. After all, the program has NINE championships. They're all great fun and wonderful moments, but there are some other moments that are special too.

Given all of that, here would be my top 15:

#15. The Nykesha Sales charity bucket to break Kerry Bascom's UConn scoring record. It's still controversial even among UConn fans, but it was a great display of sportsmanship by Villanova and a great tribute to a great player whose college career ended so abruptly and sadly.

#14. UConn-Tennessee, January 1995. There were many "firsts" in UConn's program starting in the late 1980s. This game was a coming-out party for the Huskies, vaulting the girls to #1 for the first time and establishing that UConn was, and would be, a force to be reckoned with. Great game environment as well.

#13. 2001 BET final, aka the Bird at the Buzzer game. One of the best, if not THE best, WBB games ever played, and the difference was Sue Bird's buckets at both buzzers. If it hadn't launched UConn to the 2001 national championship, this game might be ranked even higher.

#12. UConn vs. Stanford for the 2010 NC. Look, this was a special moment: win number 78 in a row, second consecutive championship, last game for the great Tina Charles, etc. However, it's the lowest of the national championships because it was played so horrifically in the first half, UConn allowed an ugly comeback late in the game, and the final deficit, six points, was the lowest during the entire winning streak over those two seasons.

#11. UConn-Tennessee January 2003. Here we go with one game ranked above an NC game. I just love this one. The prevailing thought was that UConn wasn't going to be great with the graduation of the TASS Force in 2002, but this 2003 team showed it was absolutely a contender for a championship yet again. What makes this such a great moment were Diana's heroics (including the 3/4-court shot at halftime and the great three pointer to send it to OT), and the amazing crowd (who braved some terrible elements to show up in force for this game).

#10. Uconn-Tennessee for the 2004 NC. A very competitive, tense game, this moment was a sigh of relief that made all of the struggles of the 2003-04 season worthwhile. It also completed the matching pair of NCs between the men's and women's teams.

#9. UConn-Louisville for the 2009 NC. Another sigh of relief, a 22-point romp, a culmination of Geno building the program back to NC form after the graduation of Diana Taurasi in 2004. Tina Charles had an historically great game.

#8. UConn-Louisville for the 2013 NC. This was an immensely satisfying NC. UConn had gone through a much longer "drought" between 2004 and 2009 versus 2010 and 2013, but it still felt great to be all the way back. It put UConn at eight NCs, as many as any other program, and it was as utterly dominant a championship game as I can fathom. 93-60! On top of that, it sealed the deal for 2012 high school #1 Breanna Stewart to take home the Final Four MOP as a freshman.

#7. UConn-Notre Dame IV, 2013 national semifinals. ND and Skylar Diggins just seemed to have UConn's number. Well, what a cathartic turnaround this game was. By tipoff, many people considered this the real 2013 NC game, and Uconn won it decisively. Breanna Stewart emerged like the sleeping giant she had been, and the swagger of a championship team was all the way back after three seasons of frustration. Stewie will have an even more historic career, and the greater her legend grows, the greater this game becomes.

#6. UConn-Tennessee for the 2000 NC. The rubber match between the Huskies and Lady Vols in the season, UConn's performance this game turned into a buzzsaw. How could anything be more satisfying than winning this rivalry game to the tune of 19 points? Perhaps more significantly, this may just be where the title of "top dog program" was finally seized by UConn, a title the Huskies have yet to relinquish 14 years hence.

#5. UConn-Oklahoma 2002. NC #3 was the culmination of perhaps UConn's best team ever and one of its very most dominant seasons. The game itself was pretty tense, but Swin Cash was a warrior, Sue was the excellent PG she always was, and Diana sealed the deal with the dagger and-one that sent Stacey Dales to the bench with five fouls. The 2001-02 season was a true masterpiece, and it took this game to make it such.

#4. UConn-FSU December 2010 for 89 wins in a row. Too high, you say? Pish posh say I! There may not be a greater showcase of UConn WCBB than winning more games in a row than any Division I NCAA program in history. So many great games, from the two NC runs to the squeaker over Baylor that perhaps deserves to be on this top 15 list by itself, led to #89. Maya Moore dropped 41 points to make a special night even more (Moore?) special.

#3. UConn-Tennessee for the 2003 NC. The most improbable UConn NC. A tense game with a legendary Diana performance. UConn's first successfully defended NC. A great team effort. Diana popping her jersey to demonstrate that, indeed, UConn hadn't gone anywhere...and wasn't going anywhere, either. What a game this was!

#2. UConn-ND for the 2014 NC. Add another masterpiece of a season to the gallery! How does 40-0 look? How does no game with a lower margin of victory than 11 look? How awesome did it feel to have this rivalry game, the possibility of which loomed for an entire season, turn into a 21-point rout? How poignant was it that the game's conclusion made Geno shed some tears? And how divine is nine, now the record for NCs won by a WCBB program? There really aren't enough superlatives for how fantastic a season these kids put together in 2013-14, and 10 years after both the men and women won it all, the programs completed that feat again! I'm still on cloud nine, even as we are approaching three months later.

#1. UConn-Tennessee for the 1995 championship. This has to be it, right? The assistant coach from UVA arrives at STORRS in 1985, and, in ten seasons, he's built the national championship. It was a great moment for the program, and a tense 70-64 game. UConn overcame early foul trouble and an early deficit, but by the time all was said and done, UConn was officially an elite program. No one will ever forget it.

Now, for heaven's sake, someone make the YouTube video!

 

[Sonny44]

I'd buy a copy.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

I would recommend a top 10 from the NCAA, a top ten for the Big East Tourneys, a top ten Maya, a top ten DT, and then a top ten other.

 

[Buzzyboy]

The list you compiled is very impressive. The one difference between a men's list and a women's list is that to a great extent, even the championship games weren't overtly close. On that men's video, you could see that all the games were nail biters until the very end, with the exception of the Georgia Tech national championship game. For the Huskie women, how many significant games were really very close at all. The Tennessee game in 1995 was quite close until the very end but that was the exception and not the rule. There are so many significant moments in the Geno era for UConn, obviously. The only thing is that too often the women were too good and though us fans were pumped up and excited, to the general public they weren't what you'd define as "thrilling" and dramatic.

 

[EricLA]

IMHO, the Duke victory for the men in their first NC rightfully should be #1. The NC win over Kentucky should be #2. Ga Tech NC #3 because that was the first year the men and women did it together, and then the NC over Butler is my #4. After that they pretty much got all the greatest moments right!

As for the women - no idea. You picked some great ones, Alex. I'd almost say you need 20 for the women - the 9 NC's and then 10 or 11 other games, mostly against Tennessee and Notre Dame. Those were some amazing games!

 

[ctfjr]

The list you compiled is very impressive. The one difference between a men's list and a women's list is that to a great extent, even the championship games weren't overtly close. On that men's video, you could see that all the games were nail biters until the very end, with the exception of the Georgia Tech national championship game. For the Huskie women, how many significant games were really very close at all. The Tennessee game in 1995 was quite close until the very end but that was the exception and not the rule. There are so many significant moments in the Geno era for UConn, obviously. The only thing is that too often the women were too good and though us fans were pumped up and excited, to the general public they weren't what you'd define as "thrilling" and dramatic.

how about the Oklahoma game (semi-final) in Atlanta when Geno set DT one on one to foul out their #1 player (Dales???)

OK, maybe it was the finals in 2002 in Texas - lol

 

[ctfjr]

IMHO, the Duke victory for the men in their first NC rightfully should be #1.

This ^^^

Just before Langdon's last drive the announcer made a statement (paraphrasing) "I don't understand this. Langdon is driving on Rickey Moore, the best defender in the NCAA tournament so far"
"So Far???", there was less than a minute to go. wtf was going to change in a minute? The last drive by Langdon/ stop by Moore is my all time fav play for the men since I have been buying season's tix (1980)

 

[EricLA]

This ^^^

Just before Langdon's last drive the announcer made a statement (paraphrasing) "I don't understand this. Langdon is driving on Rickey Moore, the best defender in the NCAA tournament so far"
"So Far???", there was less than a minute to go. wtf was going to change in a minute? The last drive by Langdon/ stop by Moore is my all time fav play for the men since I have been buying season's tix (1980)

In fairness, the announcer was this close (picture my thumb and forefinger only a hair apart) to being shocked like the rest of the world! I'm sure he was almost delirious...

 

[reno tony]

I would also like to include a top twenty Geno quotes from interviews after games, etc.

 

[ctfjr]

I would also like to include a top twenty Geno quotes from interviews after games, etc.

what I would like to hear are some of Calhoun's quotes during the games - definitely 'R' rated

 

[Buzzyboy]

how about the Oklahoma game (semi-final) in Atlanta when Geno set DT one on one to foul out their #1 player (Dales???)


OK, maybe it was the finals in 2002 in Texas - lol

You are right that it was reasonably close until late in the game. You do have to admit that those close games were few and fair between in all their national championship series. They normally have won handily so there's very little of last minute heroics that were necessary. That was the jest of my post!

 

[RadyLady]

The list you compiled is very impressive. The one difference between a men's list and a women's list is that to a great extent, even the championship games weren't overtly close. On that men's video, you could see that all the games were nail biters until the very end, with the exception of the Georgia Tech national championship game. For the Huskie women, how many significant games were really very close at all. The Tennessee game in 1995 was quite close until the very end but that was the exception and not the rule. There are so many significant moments in the Geno era for UConn, obviously. The only thing is that too often the women were too good and though us fans were pumped up and excited, to the general public they weren't what you'd define as "thrilling" and dramatic.

well, most games aren't that close for UConn, being that they demolish their opponants...let me ask you - hypothetically...would putting the Bird at the Buzzer, game, the UConn-Tennessee January 2003 game, and the ....

no, fuggetiaboutit.....I like the order that Alex used. Not all the games were blow outs, and some were tight until the very end. And to us Husky fans, they were all thrilling just to watch that fine machine in motion, no matter the score.

It's a thing of beauty

 

[Zorro]

All of these were, of course, dramatic, momentous and worthy of immortality. My own two very favorite moments in Husky wbb history, though, were both in regular-season games; Diana's last second 3 against the LV that kept the streak alive, and Maya's last second run-down, steal and time-out call against DePaul her freshman year. Neither game was terribly important, but both of those incidents, to me, symbolize the tough-nut, never give up spirit of UConn Women's basketball. Come to think about it, "Bird at the Buzzer" also fits that criterion.

 

[UcMiami]

Great list but I would add in the Semi final against Texas when DT brought the team back from certain defeat. That was heart stopping!

 

[alexrgct]

I do think an expansion to the top 20 moments would include the 2003 national semis and the 2008 DePaul mini-miracle. Good suggestions in this thread! Baylor in November 2010 makes the cut too. Now to contemplate two more...

 

[uconnfan68]

All of these were, of course, dramatic, momentous and worthy of immortality. My own two very favorite moments in Husky wbb history, though, were both in regular-season games; Diana's last second 3 against the LV that kept the streak alive, and Maya's last second run-down, steal and time-out call against DePaul her freshman year. Neither game was terribly important, but both of those incidents, to me, symbolize the tough-nut, never give up spirit of UConn Women's basketball. Come to think about it, "Bird at the Buzzer" also fits that criterion.

And Stewie's rundown block to that list.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

#15. The Nykesha Sales charity bucket to break Kerry Bascom's UConn scoring record. It's still controversial even among UConn fans, but it was a great display of sportsmanship by Villanova and a great tribute to a great player whose college career ended so abruptly and sadly.

Disagree with including #15.

 

[MilfordHusky]

That 1999 Duke team was loaded. But we had Rip.

I love the Kemba step-back against Pitt, which was another powerhouse team. I think winning the Big East tourney combined with the NCAA tourney was beyond incredible: 11 straight wins in single-elimination are unprecedented,