STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Geno Auriemma soaked in the moment. UConn's Hall of Fame coach now stands alone atop the NCAA basketball wins list.
Auriemma broke a tie with former Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer, earning his 1,217th career victory with an 85-41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night. “We never sat down and said hey, let's make a 40-year plan and see if we can make this happen," Auriemma said. “It's about coming here every day and trying to be better than we were yesterday.
” He has spent four decades building UConn into the standard for women’s college basketball. The school celebrated those 40 years Wednesday night. “I know it means a lot to a lot of people here at UConn that worked really, really hard to make it possible,” Auriemma said.
“You saw all the players here, means a lot to them. Every single person that had a hand in all this, means a lot to them to be a part of it, want to share in it. I'm sure when the season's over I'll be able to look back on it and think about it.
” Surrounded by the greatest players in UConn history, including Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo, Auriemma and longtime assistant Chris Dailey took in the incredible achievement in a postgame ceremony. “It's not very often in life you get to experience something that's never been done before and that you get to experience something that will never be done again,” Lobo said. More than 60 alums of the program were in attendance.
Nearly tw.
