Connecticut Huskies Women's Basketball - TASSK & Taurasi Era

TASSK & Taurasi Era

Auriemma would sign his best recruiting class in school history in 1998 when he signed 5 top 15 nationally ranked players in All Americans Swin Cash, Tamika Williams, Sue Bird, Ashja Jones, and Keirsten Walters. The fans of the program nicknamed this class the TASSK Force based on the first letters of the players names. The class renewed hope of bringing more championships to Storrs after watching arch rival Tennessee win 3 in a row.

The first season for the highly ranked class in 1998-1999 was up and down and featured many injuries. Sue Bird tore her ACL and was lost for the season after only 10 games. UConn would end up losing in the Sweet 16 to Iowa State.

2000 National Championship
Motivated by the Iowa State loss in the 1999 tournament, UConn came back with intent to reach the championship level again. Led by upperclassmen Shea Ralph, Kelly Schumacher, and Svetlana Abrosimova and the TASS Force (the K being dropped due to Keirsten Walters having to give up basketball due to knee problems) UConn went through the regular season with a 27-1 record. Their only loss was a 1 point loss to Tennessee at home. UConn beat Tennessee earlier in the season in Knoxville and this was the first year the teams met twice. UConn advanced to their first Final Four since 1996 and beat Penn State in the semi-finals. UConn would face Tennessee for the championship in the rubbermatch that year in Auriemma's hometown of Philadelphia. Despite the 2 regular season meetings being close battles, UConn used tenacious defense and dazzling backdoor cuts to blow out the Vols 71-52 for their 2nd National Championship. UConn's final record was 36-1 and Shea Ralph was named the Final Four's MVP.

Arrival of Diana Taurasi (2001)

Auriemma pulled off another huge recruiting coup when he convinced All American guard Diana Taurasi to travel across country to attend UConn. Taurasi hailed from Chino, California and attended Don Lugo High School where she was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in southern California. Her high school accolades didn't stop there as she was named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. Taurasi finished her prep career ranked second to Miller in state history with 3,047 points.

With Taurasi joining the core of the 2000 Championship team, Auriemma confidently predicted another championship in 2001. But after season ending injuries to Abrosimova and Ralph and a poor shooting game by Taurasi, UConn would suffer a devastating loss to Notre Dame in St. Louis at the Final Four, a game in which UConn had a 16 point lead.

2002 National Championship: Undefeated (39–0)
Like the 2000 champions, coming off a disappointing loss the year before, UConn came back hungrier than ever in 2001-2002. With the TASS force in their senior seasons and Taurasi emerging as a star in her sophomore year, UConn would roll through its opponents throughout the year. The only close game the Huskies received all year long was a win at Virginia Tech.

UConn advanced to the Final Four and trounced rival Tennessee in the semi-finals by 23 points. In front of a record breaking crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, UConn defeated Oklahoma for the championship 82-70 to complete a perfect 39-0 season. The starting 5 of Bird, Taurasi, Cash, Jones, and Williams is widely regarded as the best starting 5 in women's college basketball history and the team was ranked the #4 team of all time by ESPN. The championship game that year shattered ratings for ESPN and at the time was the highest rated college basketball game to air on the network, men's or women's.

2003 National Championship Repeat
With the TASS force having graduated, Diana Taurasi was going to have to carry the load in her junior season. She had help in classmates Maria Conlon, Jessica Moore, and Ashley Battle. Auriemma also was able to replace the TASS force with a top ranked class of Ann Strother, Barbara Turner, Willnet Crockett, and Nicole Wolff. But with no seniors on the roster, 2003 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for UConn.

But as the year progressed, it was obvious Taurasi was up to the challenge to carry a group of role players and freshman to a championship. UConn would amazingly finish the regular season undefeated and had a 70 game winning streak established. Connecticut shattered the previous mark of 54 set by Louisiana Tech with its 55th-straight win on January 18, 2003, versus Georgetown in the Hartford Civic Center. UConn's win streak would come to an end in the Big East championship game to Villanova.

UConn advanced to the Final Four at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. UConn rallied from a 9 point deficit to beat Texas in the semi-finals and behind Taurasi's 28 points defeat rival Tennessee for UConn's 4th national championship. UConn became the first team to win a championship without a senior on their roster.

2004 National Championship Three-peat

With the entire team back and expectations sky high for a threepeat in Taurasi's senior year, UConn would go through a bit of an up and down regular season. The team ended up blowing a big lead against Duke and suffered losses to Notre Dame and Villanova and then a loss in the semi finals of the Big East Tournament to Boston College.

UConn was a 2 seed in the tournament. The Huskies would find their groove in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies beat top seeded Penn State to advance to the Final Four at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans. After beating Minnesota in the semi-finals, UConn would once again beat Tennessee for the National Championship. The win was even more special as the UConn men's basketball team won the men's national championship the previous night marking the only time one University won both the men's and women's basketball championships in one season.

Taurasi would end her career on top leading UConn to 3 straight national titles. Leading up to that final championship, her coach, Geno Auriemma, would declare his likelihood of winning with the claim, "We have Diana, and you don't."

Taurasi also received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award. She achieved legendary status among UConn fans.