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Message: [QUOTE="The CDR-Ret, post: 4474824, member: 10751"] Going back into history, the first three coaches (Sandra Hamm (one year), Wanda Flora (five years), and Jean Balthaser (five years) had one winning season (16-14 in Jean's first year). Whereas, Geno (with CD as the associate Head Coach) had one losing season. The first eleven years under 3 coaches went 92-162, whereas Geno & CD went 92-51 in their first 5 years (same win total, but Geno & CD had two NCAA tourney berths to their ZERO [O 'fer]. The first final four for UCONN was in Geno & CD's sixth year. [B]Meanwhile, back in the Evil [Orange] Empire,[/B] Pat Summit had been the Head Coach for Tennessee since the 1974-75 season (she started at 22 years old and was still playing for the US National team (silver medalist to be in the Montreal 1976 Olympics, etc.)) and compiled a 267-86 record before Geno & CD took over, and was at her [Pat Summitt & UTenn] first Final Four in 1982 when the NCAA finally got around to having its first women's tournament for 32 teams. By the time Geno & CD got to their first Final Four appearance in their sixth year, 1990-91, Pat Summitt earned UTenn their third NCAA National Championship, which was the most for any women's program at the time. As to relevance in the WBB world, Geno & CD's 1994-95 squad beating UTenn in their first #1 (UTenn) vs. #2 (UCONN) game on national TV (a first for a regular season game) on ESPN on 1/16/1995 with a score of 77-66 could be seen as the beginning of a rivalry. Then to have the rematch in the National Championship game in the same year, and pull out a victory by six [to have the first of six undefeated UCONN women's team (35-0)] really got the rivalry going. UTenn responded with three straight National Championships, and UCONN again stopped UTenn in 2000 to keep Pat Summitt from her 7th National Championship for Geno & CD's 2nd National Championship. From 1987 to 2016, UTenn and UCONN accounted for 19 of the 30 National Championships, and seven of the nine undefeated women's teams since the inception of the women's NCAA tournament in 1982. So, in a way, the 1994-95 season was historical for WBB, but I view the 1987-88 season as the historical start to UCONN's rise to their continuous run in the NCAA tournament which is now 33 consecutive berths, which is tied with Tara van Derveer's run with Stanford (she had one year off as the US Olympic Coach in 1996). Which brings us to the three winningest coaches in Women's Basketball (and all three are just short of Coach K from Duke): Tara, Geno (with CD), and Pat Summitt - all three had their teams at the 1995 Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. Therefore, Meyers7 just needs three words added to his statement: Women's College Basketball didn't start [B]becoming nationally relevant [/B]until 1995. I was one of those who did not know much about Women's basketball until that cold (cold for Mare Island, CA anway) January day in 1995, when watched the ESPN broadcast, and was happy that the #2 ranked team knocked off the #1 in a battle of unbeatens. Being toward the end of a nuclear refueling overhaul for my submarine in Mare Island California made it difficult to follow UCONN, and I was underway for the Final Four, but my wife (who is from Connecticut) recorded both of the UCONN games for me. So personnally, WBB started for me in 1995, and I have been a fan of the UCONN Huskies this entire time! [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach