Geno Auriemma focused on making UConn better, not NCAA tourney
More Teams. More Games.
Chloe Kitts shows off her court vision and finds Raven Johnson near the hoop for a South Carolina score. (0:19)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Following No. 11 UConn’s 83-65 loss at No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday, coach Geno Auriemma said he’s focused on helping his short-handed team improve — not the NCAA tournament.
Auriemma, who has won 11 national championships during his tenure, has faced an unprecedented wave of injuries this season.
Last month, Aubrey Griffin sustained a season-ending injury. Four other UConn players have had season-ending injuries this season too, including star Azzi Fudd. And junior Caroline Ducharme hasn’t been available since November because of back and neck issues.
In Sunday’s loss, Auriemma played only seven players total and four freshmen, including two in his starting rotation.
“I mean, ever since all this stuff has been happening with our roster, that’s the furthest thing from my mind,” Auriemma said about the NCAA tournament. “I [couldn’t] care less about that. We have a bunch of young [players] playing college basketball for the first time and they’ve gotten better and better each and every week and we have to make sure they keep getting better every week.”
Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards both had 20 points as they tried to stop South Carolina in front of a sold-out crowd at Colonial Life Arena. But Te-Hina Paopao (21 points) and her teammates were relentless as they won their 23rd consecutive game with a dominant effort.
Auriemma said his team, which connected on 36.6% of its field goal attempts and committed 13 turnovers, does not have the depth to squander key opportunities to score the way it did against the Gamecocks.
“We have to do more things right than ever before because of the situation that we’re in,” he said. “We’re not going to get any bigger. We’re not going to add any more players. We’re not going to get any taller, but we need to get a little smarter if we want to be able to win some of these games come March.”
Auriemma also said Bueckers has to be more assertive. He added that Bueckers is logging significant minutes but noted that she’s rarely offered a chance to recover. Auriemma said that his team continues to improve and he hopes Sunday’s loss will also lead to more growth.
“The seven that we have right now, that are playing the most minutes, that’s just the way it’s going to be,” Auriemma said. “It’s going to be on those seven. Hopefully, it was a great learning experience for those young [players] because it was the first time they really had to play big roles in a game like this.”