The 2013–14 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the 2013–14 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Huskies were led by 29th-year head coach Geno Auriemma and played their home games at three different venues: the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on campus at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut and a game at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This was UConn's first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference, known as The American. The Huskies finished the season with a perfect 40–0, 18–0 in the American Conference in winning both the regular season and the tournament titles. They received an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and won their ninth National Championship by defeating Notre Dame. The previous day, Connecticut also won the men's tournament. It was just the second time in NCAA history the same school had won both the men's and women's tournaments; UConn first accomplished that feat in 2004.
Off-season
USA basketball Connecticut basketball players were active in USA basketball events during 2013.
Two UConn players were selected for the World University Games team: Bria Hartley Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
The USA team was undefeated at the event in Kazan, Russia in July. Both UConn players started all six games. Hartley was the leading scorer for the USA team with 13.5 points per game, while Mosqueda-Lewis was a close second with 13.0 points per game. Mosqueda-Lewis was the leading rebounder for the team with 41 for an average of almost seven per game.
In the gold medal game against the host, Russia, Hartley was the leading scorer with 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Mosqueda-Lewis scored 15 points.
Three UConn players were selected to be on the USA U19 (Under-19) team:
Moriah Jefferson Breanna Stewart Morgan Tuck
Tuck was selected to be the team captain.
The team traveled to the Canary Islands to take part in a preliminary event, the Lanzarote International Invitational Title, which included other teams also headed to the U19 world championship. In the opening game against Australia, the Aussies held a lead at halftime, which was extended to seven points in the second half, until Morgan Tuck helped lead a comeback, resulting in a close win. The team then defeated the host team, Spain, to win the Lanzarote International Invitational title.
Following the preliminary event, the team traveled to Klaipėda and Panevėžys, Lithuania for the World Championship. All three UConn players were starters in every game, except one game missed by Jefferson due to injury. The USA team won their first five games easily, then had a close, six point victory over France. In the medal rounds, the USA team beat Japan easily in the quarterfinals, then faced Australia, the team that had played them close in the Canary islands. The game started out quite close, with Australia leading on some occasions, and held a three-point lead with six minutes to go in the first half. Stewart then scored nine consecutive points to start a 21–0 run to take over the game. The USA team won, to advance to the gold medal game against France, the team they had played earlier in a close game. The first half was close, with the USA holding a seven-point lead at halftime, but the second half was all USA, who held France to only eight more points. The USA won the gold medal by a score of 61–28.
Stewart set a U19 scoring record with 152 points, surpassing the record previously held by Maya Moore. Stewart was also honored as the MVP of the tournament.
Roster changes
Three seniors departed from the prior team: Kelly Faris Caroline Doty Heather Buck
Faris was selected 11th overall in the 2013 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun.
The team added a single freshman: Saniya Chong
Chong is a 5' 9" guard who averaged over 30 points per game with two games over 55 points. She also had almost ten assists and five steals per game as a junior at Ossining High School in New York. In her senior season, she scored 928 points, setting a single season record for scoring in the state of New York. She helped lead her high school team to the state championship in 2013, the first ever in the history of the high school. In a regular season game, Ossining faced Hamilton, who were 12–0 at the time. Hamilton led late in the game, but Chong scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead her team to an 88–79 victory. That performance earned her a spot as the Sports Illustrated national Player of the Week.
Chong was recognized by Parade magazine as their national Girls Basketball Player of the Year. She was also honored by the National High School Coaches Association as the girls basketball National Player of the Year.
UConn added two walk-ons to the roster. Briana Pulido is a sophomore from Florida who was on the track and field team, but will drop that sport to concentrate on basketball. She will join the team as a 5' 7" guard. Tierney Lawlor is a freshman from Ansonia High school, who will also play as a guard. Lawlor was captain of her high school team as a junior and senior.
Game results
Pre-season Connecticut opened the season against NCAA Division II Gannon University. The Gannon Golden Knights were ranked second in the nation in the Division II pre-season poll. The Huskies had little difficulty, led by Stewart's 21 points, to help win the game 101–35. The second exhibition game was against Division II Philadelphia University. The Lady Rams were over-matched, and UConn won the game 93–28. Philadelphia held an early lead at 3–2, but did not score again for eleven minutes. Every UConn player had double-digit minutes.
Regular season
2013 Connecticut opened the regular season against the Hartford Hawks. The Hawks are coached by Jennifer Rizzotti who played for UConn under Auriemma. This game marked the 39th game between an Auriemma coached team and a team whose coach or assistant coach had previously played for him or served as an assistant coach. The teams coached by Auriemma have won all 39 games. This game was no exception, with UConn prevailing 89–34.
The game between UConn and Stanford matched up the #1 and #3 ranked teams in the nation. The game result, though was over-shadowed by an injury to Mosqueda-Lewis, who fell hard to the floor, landing on her right arm, and filled the arena with her cries. She left the game. A report a few days later indicated she would be out three to five weeks. Stokes player more minutes than she might have otherwise, and ended with a double-double (ten points and twelve rebounds). The game was played at Gampel Pavilion, the first match-up between UConn and Stanford at the on-campus location since 1993. UConn won the game, 75–57.
UConn traveled to Maryland below full strength. In addition the Mosqueda-Lewis, who was injured in the prior game and out indefinitely, Tuck underwent knee surgery which was expected to keep her out for four to six weeks. Early ant he game, the score was tied at seven apiece, with UConn's Stewart scoring seven and Maryland's Alyssa Thomas scoring seven. UConn held a five-point lead at intermission, which Maryland quickly countered in the beginning of the second half, tying the game at 43 points each. However, UConn then scored the next eight points. Thomas scored to stop the run and Dolson picked up a fourth foul but UConn went on a 9–2 run to take a commanding lead. Thomas scored 20 points for Maryland, but Stewart had 26, which helped UConn win 72–55, in front of 15,327 fans in the arena.
Hartley entered the game against Penn State in a shooting slump from beyond the three-point line, having missed eleven consecutive attempts in her prior game. She did not shake it off in the beginning of the Penn State game, missing two shots having making one. She went over to teammate Mosqueda-Lewis, sitting on the bench with an injury, but a player who led the nation in three points shooting the prior year. She decided to rub hands with Mosqueda-Lewis for luck, and promptly hit her next three consecutive three-point attempts. Penn State hung with UConn early, but UConn broke a ten-all tie starting with a three-pointer by Chong which began a twelve-point run by the Huskies. Although Penn State would cut a 23-point lead down to nine points at one time, helped by 18 points from Penn State's Maggie Lucas, Hartley responded with eight consecutive points of her own to rebuild the lead. UConn won their third consecutive game over a ranked opponent by a score of 71–52.
UConn's next game was against Oregon, a team averaging just under 110 points per game. Oregon is coached by Paul Westhead, who has coached NBA, WNBA and NCAA men's teams. A team would score over 110 points, but it was the Huskies, who won 114–68. Late in the game, the UConn staff realized that Stefanie Dolson was close to a triple-double, so she returned to the floor, and earned an assist to complete the accomplishment. She ended the game with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, only the second UConn Husky to complete the feat in UConn women's basketball history. Laura Lishness had the prior triple-double in 1989 against Providence college, with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
UConn served as a host school for the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge. The event included eight teams, four of whom played November 22–24 at UConn locations, and four of whom played the same dates at Ohio State University. All eight teams then played on December 1 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, located near the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. UConn opened the event against BU, held at Gampel Pavilion. The game started out ragged, with BU leading for almost the first four minutes, and UConn not breaking into double digits until after six minutes had been played. Then UConn went on a 21–0 run against the Terriers to open up a large lead. Dolson had 23 points, which, coupled with her 20-point production in the prior game represented the first time she has scored 20 or more in back-to-back games.UConn went on to win 96–38. UConn faced Monmouth University in the second game, also held at Gampel Pavilion. The score was tied at seven points each early, but UConn then went on a 34–6 run, which included a stretch of 21 consecutive points scored by the Huskies, to put the game out of reach. UConn went on to win 100–46.
UConn played for the third time in three days and the fourth times in five days against St. Bonadventure, to end the first phase of the Hall of Fame Classic. This game was played at the XL Center in Hartford. Kiah Stokes led the term in scoring for the first time in her career, putting up a career-high 19 points, along with eight rebounds and four blocked shots. She helped the Huskies win the game 88–39.
After a week off, UConn played Ohio State in the final game of the Hall of Fame Classic. All eight teams in the Classic participated in a dinner, held at the Hall of Fame the day before all teams participated in the final game of the event on Sunday December 1. The team shows signs of the layoff, committing 16 turnovers, including eight be Dolson. Hartley led the team with 17 points, helping the team to a 70–49 win. The win represented the 53rd consecutive victory in an in-season tournament for the Huskies.