Stanford and UConn haven’t performed since 2017, however that doesn’t imply coaches Tara VanDerveer and Geno Auriemma are at midnight about what to anticipate Friday night time.
“I believe, like us, they haven’t modified through the years,” Auriemma stated Thursday on the NCAA Closing 4 in Minneapolis. “They nonetheless play the identical fashion of play. Once you watch them, you understand precisely what you’re going to get. There aren't any surprises once you play Stanford.”
The Cardinal (32-3) and Huskies (29-5) play at roughly 6:30 p.m. at Goal Middle following the opposite semifinal between Louisville (29-4) and South Carolina (33-2) at 4 p.m.
Stanford ahead Haley Jones did her finest to provide lip service for a bicoastal matchup between two of essentially the most iconic applications in girls’s basketball, however ultimately conceded, “I’ll be trustworthy. I don’t keep in mind any of these video games, however it sounds nice. I hope we received most of them.”
For the file, UConn has an 11-7 benefit courting again to 1988 and is 4-2 in NCAA Event video games. The final time the Cardinal confronted the Huskies was in 2017 on a impartial courtroom in Columbus, Ohio. UConn received 88-86 in additional time. The one participant on the Stanford roster who performed that day was now-sixth-year guard Anna Wilson, who was scoreless in three minutes of play.
VanDerveer is the winningest coach in girls’s school basketball with a file of 1,157-258 and three nationwide championships together with two years at Idaho and 5 at Ohio State. Auriemma is 1,148-149 with 11 championships.
Auriemma, by no means one to carry his tongue, has accomplished some verbal sparring with different coaches in his sport through the years, together with the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Muffet McGraw (now retired) of Notre Dame. However there’s by no means been a problem with VanDerveer.
“Geno likes to sort of get into little battles with folks,” VanDerveer stated. “Possibly it was Pat when Pat was alive, or Muffet, however I don’t know. I like him and I believe we get alongside rather well. I’ve by no means felt we had been adversaries in a damaging means however extra rivals in an excellent means.”
Auriemma recited an inventory of VanDerveer accomplishments together with her teaching the USA Olympic workforce to a gold medal and stated, “I wouldn’t say now we have a really shut relationship like I've with another coaches, however we even have a relationship the place I believe we each perceive what we’re making an attempt to do. And we each, I believe, have super respect for one another and our applications.”
Stanford and UConn performed from 2007 by means of 2014, with the spotlight for Stanford coming after they snapped UConn’s 90-game win streak in 2010 after which ended a 47-game win streak in 2014 with each video games at Maples Pavilion.
They haven’t met since apart from the sport in 2017.
“It didn’t get renewed. We performed them at their place, they had been supposed to come back again to our place, and one thing obtained misplaced in translation, I assume,” Auriemma stated. “We’ve all the time had nice video games with them. Some have been shut, some haven't been shut.”
Auriemma is anxious about matching up with Stanford inside and 6-4 publish Cameron Brink after dropping 6-foot-5 Dharka Juhasz.
“It might solely occur to us three days earlier than we play the longest, most athletic entrance line, the tallest group of gamers that exist within the event, that being Stanford’s workforce and their wonderful publish gamers,” Auriemma stated.
Stanford, in the meantime is confronted with the multi-talented Paige Bueckers, who recovered from a knee damage to attain 23 of her 27 factors within the second half and two overtimes of their Elite Eight win over North Carolina State.
“They've the whole lot that you just want: Paige, Azzi Fudd is a superb shooter, Christyn Williams was the No. 1 participant within the nation popping out of highschool,” They’re expert. They’re gifted.”