UConn’s Auriemma wins 700th game
Published 4:30 pm Saturday, November 28, 2009
STORRS — The No. 1 UConn women, part-time party planners this week, had asked themselves a fundamental question about gift-giving.
What can you possibly offer a guy with everything he needs or wants, including assorted Hall of Fame memberships, spaghetti sauce with his own label and a haberdashery of slick ties?
The answer turned out to be simple.
The Huskies gave Geno Auriemma all he has ever asked from a generation of his players. He wanted a win. And the one he received Friday helped him become the eighth active women’s coach — and fastest ever — to reach 700 career victories, doing it in just 822 games.
“I know he won’t say it himself,” Kaili McLaren said, “but it’s incredible, remarkable.”
Led by Maya Moore’s 23 points, the Huskies disposed of Hofstra 91-46 in the WBCA Classic before 8,498 at Gampel Pavilion.
Tina Charles (17), Kalana Greene (14), Tiffany Hayes (10) and Meghan Gardler (10) also scored in double figures for the Huskies (4-0), who have won 43 in a row.
Auriemma, 55, said he doesn’t think of what lies ahead, even to the point of dismissing the possibility of retiring with the most wins in women’s basketball history. Right now, he’s more than 10 30-win seasons behind Pat Summitt.
“It’s not possible,” Auriemma said. “I got a late start (30 years old). There’s no way to catch up, nor do I aspire to, to be honest with you. I am not in this to win the most games in history. I’m not here to be compared to Bob Knight or whomever.”
Friday was the first night of a three-day round robin tournament involving UConn, Hofstra, Richmond and Clemson.
Hofstra (3-1) came in unbeaten but had 32 turnovers, 22 coming on UConn steals.
Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
