The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in the NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently play in the Big East Conference.
The UConn Huskies have won a record 12 NCAA Division I National Championships and a women's record four in a row, from 2013 through 2016, plus over 50 conference regular season and tournament championships. They have taken part in every NCAA tournament since 1989; as of the end of the 2024–25 season, this is the second-longest active streak in Division I. From 2008 to 2022, they appeared in a record 14 consecutive Final Fours.
UConn owns the two longest winning streaks (men's or women's) in college basketball history. The longest streak, 111 straight wins, started with a win against Creighton University on November 23, 2014, and ended on March 31, 2017, when a buzzer-beater at the end of overtime caused a 66–64 loss in the 2017 NCAA Final Four to Mississippi State. The second streak counts 90 consecutive wins, including two undefeated seasons (2008–09 and 2009–10), and was delimited by two losses against Stanford, the first on April 6, 2008, in the National Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, and the second – three seasons later – on December 19, 2010. The Huskies also own the longest winning streak in regular-season games in college history; after an overtime loss to Stanford on November 17, 2014, they won their next 126 regular-season games until a 68–57 loss to Baylor on January 3, 2019.
UConn's current head coach is Luigi "Geno" Auriemma, who joined the team in 1985. His 1277 wins are the most by any NCAA coach in basketball, and his 1277–165 () record represents the highest winning percentage among NCAA basketball coaches (minimum 10 seasons), any level, men's or women's.
UConn has also been one of the leaders in women's basketball attendance; the team plays its home games at both Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs and the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.
History Connecticut Agricultural College (1899-1933) The land-grant college fielded basketball teams for women that it called Co-Ed in 1925. The 1925 team played seven games. The 1927 yearbook states "Basketball is the major sport for women students and the one by which girls secure the Co-ed major "C"." That team finished 3–4.
Early Years (1974–1985) The UConn Huskies' first ever game was played on December 5, 1974, and was a 40–27 win over visiting Eastern Connecticut State University. After winning their first two games, the team lost the other eight in a 10-game season. The team had a losing record during its first six seasons under coaches Sandra Hamm (1974–75) and Wanda Flora (1975–80), and only one winning season in five seasons under Jean Balthaser (1980–85).
Arrival of Coach Auriemma (1985–1991) Prior to the 1985–86 season, UConn hired Geno Auriemma as their new head coach, who had served as assistant coach at Virginia, with the goal of revitalizing the program. Auriemma's training skills had an immediate impact, and the team showed steady signs of progress: after going 12–15 in his first season in 1985–86, Auriemma led UConn to winning seasons in 1986–87 and 1987–88.
Auriemma pulled off one of his biggest and most important early recruiting successes in 1987 when he persuaded an All-American from New Hampshire, Kerry Bascom, to come to UConn. Bascom had an immediate impact on the UConn program. In 1989 she won the Big East Player of the Year award as a sophomore (she also won the award in her junior and senior years) and led UConn to its first Big East regular season and tournament titles, along with its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance at a #8 seed. However, the Huskies season ended in the first round with a loss to #9 seed La Salle, 72–63.
With Bascom and teammates Laura Lishness, Megan Pattyson, Wendy Davis and Debbie Baer, UConn reached the NCAA Tournament again in 1990 as a #4 seed, losing 61–59 to Clemson in the second round after a first-round bye.
1990–1991: National Breakthrough Season In Auriemma's 6th season (1990–91) the Huskies broke through on the national scene, again capturing the Big East regular season and tournament titles, and earning a #3 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament, its highest seed up to then. UConn beat Toledo 81–80 at Gampel Pavilion in the opening round, with Bascom scoring an NCAA tournament single-game record 39 points. The Huskies then moved on to the regionals at The Palestra in Auriemma's hometown of Philadelphia. Here, the team upset heavily favored ACC power North Carolina State in the Sweet 16 by 11 points, and then defeated Clemson 60–57 in the Elite Eight to advance to their first-ever Final Four (also a first for any Big East school). UConn's season ended with a 61–55 loss to top-seeded Virginia in the National semifinals at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Bascom was hit with early foul trouble and Virginia held off a late UConn rally. Including all tournament games, Bascom had set a new UConn scoring record with 2,177 points during her years at the school. The 1990–91 season is widely credited with bringing UConn's women's basketball program into the national spotlight for the first time. It also followed the men's 1989–90 "Dream Season", which brought that program into the national spotlight as well.
Rebecca Lobo Era (1991–1995)
UConn followed up its surprise run to the Final Four in 1991 by landing All-American Rebecca Lobo from Southwick, Massachusetts.
UConn had modest success in Lobo's first 2 seasons, losing early in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. In 1993–94, UConn had its most successful season up to that point; led by Lobo and teammates Jamelle Elliott, Jennifer Rizzotti, Pam Webber, Kara Wolters and Carla Berube, UConn won 30 games for the first time in program history, winning the Big East tournament and regular-season titles. In the NCAA tournament, the Huskies were awarded a #1 seed for the first time ever, having achieved a 27–2 record prior to the tournament. UConn managed to reach the Elite Eight, but came up short in its hopes to make it back to the Final Four, losing to eventual champion North Carolina, 81–69.
1995 National Championship: Undefeated (35–0)
With every major player back from 1994, and the addition of Auriemma's most highly ranked recruit to date (Connecticut Player of the Year Nykesha Sales), UConn was in for a season to remember in 1994–95. The season started with an 80-point win over Morgan State; two weeks later, UConn defeated powerhouse North Carolina State by 23 points on the road. This season also saw the birth of one of the greatest rivalries in college sports, the UConn-Tennessee rivalry, that began when the two teams met for the first time on Martin Luther King Day at Gampel Pavilion. UConn defeated Tennessee 77–66 in front of a sold-out crowd in a game televised on ESPN and soon afterwards became ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history.
UConn went unbeaten through the conference regular season and Tournament and easily advanced into the NCAA tournament. In the Elite Eight against Virginia, a 4-point win (their closest game of the year) secured the team's place in the Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis. UConn blew out Stanford in the semifinals 87–60 to reach the national championship game for a rematch against Tennessee. In the title game, UConn found itself in early trouble when Lobo was called for three personal fouls in 94 seconds in the first half. However, in the second half the team was able to rally from a 9-point deficit, and a key Rizzotti layup gave UConn the lead with less than 2 minutes to go. UConn won the game with a final score of 70–64 and claimed the program's first ever national title. Rebecca Lobo was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player.
With a perfect 35–0 record, UConn became only the fifth Division I women's basketball team to go undefeated en route to a national championship, and only the second since the NCAA era began in 1982. The Huskies also became the first unbeaten team in NCAA history, all divisions, men or women, to win 35 games in a season.
The 1994–95 UConn team was widely credited with increasing interest in women's basketball. The team was honored with a parade in Hartford, CT, that drew over 100,000 spectators. The team won the Team of the Year Award at the ESPN ESPY awards that year, and Lobo became a popular symbol of the sport. UConn also signed a landmark deal during the season with Connecticut Public Television to broadcast their games.
Lobo graduated in 1995, receiving countless accolades: the Naismith College Player of the Year award, the Wade Trophy, the Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year award, the USBWA Women's National Player of the Year award, the Honda-Broderick Cup, the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award (first basketball player ever), the Associated Press Athlete of the Year (second basketball player after Sheryl Swoopes), the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the Academic All-America of the Year, and made the All-sports Academic All-America of the Year.
In 2010 Lobo became the first Connecticut player inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, among a class of six inductees, followed by teammate Jennifer Rizzotti in the class of 2013.
A New Powerhouse is Born (1995–2000) After the 1995 Championship, UConn rose to national prominence as one of the powerhouses in women's college basketball, giving coach Auriemma the chance to recruit star talents from high school like Shea Ralph in 1996 and Svetlana Abrosimova in 1997.
Escalation of Rivalry with Tennessee Starting with their two meetings in 1995, the rivalry between the Tennessee Lady Vols and UConn escalated through the late 1990s and into the 2000s, becoming the marquee matchup in all women's sports, and taking on parallels to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry in Major League Baseball. Geno Auriemma jokingly once referred to Pat Summitt and Tennessee as the "evil empire", like Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino said of the Yankees.
In the 1995–96 season, UConn ended Tennessee's home court winning streak at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville. Tennessee avenged itself in the Final Four that year in Charlotte, defeating UConn 88–83 in overtime; the game is often thought to be one of the more memorable games in NCAA tournament history, with many back and forth swings of momentum throughout.
UConn defeated Tennessee during the 1996–97 regular season yet again. However, after a season-ending injury for Shea Ralph in the first round of the NCAA tournament, UConn reached the Regional Final where the two teams met again, with Tennessee prevailing and ending Connecticut's unbeaten season by winning 91–81.
Tennessee handily defeated Connecticut 84–69 in the 1997–98 regular season in a game played Thompson-Boling arena. A mini controversy erupted in the days after the game when Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw was quoted in the papers as saying UConn looked scared during the game; Auriemma denounced that quote. With Shea Ralph and senior Nykesha Sales out for the entire season due to injuries, freshman Svetlana Abrosimova led a young UConn team to the NCAA Tournament Regional Final, where they eventually lost to North Carolina State, 60–52.
1998–1999: Arrival of the TASSK Force Auriemma signed his best recruiting class to date in 1998 when he signed five top 15 nationally ranked players. High school All-Americans Swin Cash, Tamika Williams, Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, and Keirsten Walters were dubbed "TASSK Force" by Connecticut fans, using the players' initials. The class renewed hope of bringing more championships to UConn after watching archrival Tennessee win three in a row.