Celebrating Geno: Looking back on Auriemma's most memorable wins

Geno Auriemma continues to rewrite the record books.

UConn's 85-41 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson gave the Huskies icon his 1,217th career victory, surpassing Tara VanDerveer as college basketball's all-time winningest coach.

Auriemma's journey to the summit has been 40 years in the making. UConn had only one winning season in 11 years when the future Hall of Famer took the job. He's since built the program into the gold standard of women's college hoops.

Here are some of Auriemma's most memorable wins - in chronological order - over the past four decades in Storrs.

March 16, 1991: UConn's 1st NCAA tourney win

UConn was steadily ascending with a pair of Big East regular-season titles and a conference tournament crown in Auriemma's first five seasons. However, the program had yet to win a single contest in two previous trips to the Big Dance.

The Huskies finally broke through on the national stage in the 1991 NCAA Tournament, escaping their opening tilt against Toledo with a narrow 81-80 victory at Gampel Pavilion. All-American forward Kerry Bascom - Auriemma's first major coup on the recruiting trail - delivered with a tourney single-game school-record 39 points, including a go-ahead 3-point play with 19 seconds remaining.

Auriemma's squad went on to reach its maiden Final Four, where UConn would lose 61-55 to No. 1 seed Virginia. While the Huskies fell short of the ultimate prize, their deep March run established belief in Auriemma's vision and opened the door to a whole wave of highly touted recruits.

"That night here against Toledo changed Connecticut basketball forever," Auriemma told reporters in 2013, including Rich Elliott of The Connecticut Post. "That's the night that we became the kind of program that can go to the Final Four. I'll never forget that night for as long as I live."

Jan. 16, 1995: UConn, Tennessee begin storied rivalry

UConn hadn't returned to the Final Four in the three years that followed its first national semifinal appearance, even with the addition of local star Rebecca Lobo. Still, the Huskies were poised to contend for the 1995 title as Nykesha Sales joined a talented roster that featured Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, and Kara Wolters.

UConn was a perfect 12-0 heading into its inaugural meeting with powerhouse Tennessee. Their showdown would determine the No. 1 spot in the AP poll and was broadcast on national television, which was a rarity for women's basketball at the time. The Huskies defeated the Lady Vols 77-66 in front of a sold-out home crowd and seized the top spot in the polls for the first time in school history.

The hotly contested matchup sparked arguably the greatest rivalry in women's basketball and elevated the sport's profile. UConn and Tennessee squared off a few months later in the national championship game, with the Huskies capturing their first-ever Division I crown to cap off their first of six undefeated campaigns.

Dec. 21, 2010: UConn breaks UCLA's win-streak record

UConn set numerous records over Auriemma's tenure, but none may be more impressive than the win streaks the program produced.

Maya Moore tallied a career-high 41 points against 20th-ranked Florida State to lead the Huskies to an 89th consecutive victory, topping the benchmark set by John Wooden's legendary UCLA teams between 1971-74.

It was the perfect way to sum up the program's dominance under Auriemma. UConn was hardly threatened during its 93-62 victory over the Seminoles, just like virtually every other game during its unprecedented win streak. The Huskies had only two contests decided by single digits despite facing 16 top-10 opponents along the way.

UConn's win streak ended shortly after at 90, yet it stood for only seven more years as the school reset its own NCAA record with a separate 111-game win streak.

April 5, 2016: Geno surpasses the Wizard of Westwood again

The Huskies' most recent national championship was significant for a myriad of reasons. Their lopsided 82-51 victory over Syracuse in the title game made UConn the first Division I women's basketball team to win four straight national championships. Not even Pat Summitt's storied Tennessee teams accomplished the feat.

Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck also became the only players in college hoops history to four-peat. The star trio ended its decorated run with a 151-5 mark, which is the most victories by any group of college basketball players.

Auriemma claimed his 11th national championship to break a tie with Wooden for the all-time lead. He went undefeated in the title game until losing to Dawn Staley's South Carolina program in the 2022 national final.

April 1, 2024: UConn's unlikely Final Four run

UConn is no stranger to the Final Four, having made 14 consecutive national semifinal appearances before falling to Ohio State in the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

That shocking defeat is partly why last season's unlikely Final Four run was so special. The Huskies had to turn the page on their earliest tourney exit in nearly 20 years and navigate through a litany of injuries in perhaps the most challenging campaign of Auriemma's career.

UConn lost six players to season-ending ailments - including former No. 1 recruit Azzi Fudd - and was forced to operate with a seven-player rotation for most of the season. Auriemma adjusted on the fly with a four-guard lineup to maximize the offensive strengths of the available players. It was unconventional and unlike his preferred way of playing, but it got the job done.

UConn entered its Elite Eight encounter against JuJu Watkins and 1-seed USC in an unfamiliar position as the underdog. That didn't matter once the game tipped off as Auriemma's defensive game plan against the Trojans star reaffirmed why he remains one of the best in the business.

The eight-time Naismith Coach of the Year had Watkins constantly under pressure. Auriemma deployed defensive ace Nika Muhl and Paige Bueckers as Watkins' primary defenders. He sent double teams whenever Watkins caught the ball atop the key, limiting the freshman phenom's opportunities to attack the paint and expose the Huskies' lack of interior size. Auriemma's schemes resulted in a 9-of-25 shooting performance and four turnovers from Watkins. By the time she got going in the fourth quarter, it was too late for USC to mount a comeback.