STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Geno Auriemma became the winningest coach in NCAA college basketball history, earning his 1,217th victory as No. 2 UConn beat Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 on Wednesday night.
Auriemma broke a tie with retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for the most victories all-time. Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski holds the men's record with 1,202. Auriemma began his journey with UConn in 1985 and is 1,217-162 in his career.
He has only had one losing season — his first one with the Huskies. The Huskies (4-0) celebrated Auriemma and associated head coach Chris Dailey's 40 years at the school with more than 60 alums, including former UConn greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo in attendance. UConn's latest star led the way as Paige Bueckers had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Freshman Sarah Strong had 20 points. FDU (4-2) hung around for the first few minutes and only trailed 14-12 before UConn scored nine of the final 11 points of the quarter. The Knights didn't get within single digits the rest of the way.
FDU: The Knights won their first four games this season — the first time that happened in 33 years. UConn: The Huskies are finally starting to get healthy which will give Auriemma a deeper bench as the season progresses. Azzi Fudd made her return to the UConn lineup after missing the last year with a right knee injury.
She checked in with 3:39 left in the first quarter. She received a loud ovation from the crowd when she came.
