Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press

Junior Katie Lou Samuelson leads the undefeated Huskies in scoring (18.3 points per game) and three-point shooting (49 percent) this season.

'She just had this feeling that today was going to be a really good day for her,' he says. Specifically, he's trying to explain how good Samuelson, the 6'3' junior with the highest three-point percentage in Division I (49.3 percent) and a front-runner for this year's Naismith Trophy, is. The Huskies eventually triumph over Louisville, 69-58, and Auriemma-owner of the highest winning percentage (.883) and architect of the most titled program in college basketball history-attempts to explain how. 'Geno tells them a play, and then they work and pass the ball until they find an open shot,' she explains. Brooke wants to grow up to play basketball for UConn (failing that, she'll settle for being the first woman to play football for Notre Dame). They've spent their whole lives watching UConn women's basketball their dad, Tom, is an alum who befriended Rebecca Lobo and Pam Webber while managing the men's team. Samuelson is Alyssa's favorite player because 'she's a really good shooter, and she's really good at basketball in general,' while Brooke loves watching sophomore guard Crystal Dangerfield because 'she's fast and strong.' Make that 19-0.Īlyssa and Brooke, nine-year-old twins who play basketball themselves, are cheering from the stands.

A crowd of 10,167 sits under 11 championship banners, complimentary white pom-poms in hand, as the pep band plays Chance the Rapper's 'No Problem.' Samuelson sprints down the court, lobs the ball over 6'2' Louisville senior Myisha Hines-Allen to projected top-five 2018 WNBA draft pick Gabby Williams, who tosses in an easy layup. The UConn Huskies are on a 17-0 run, flexing for a sold-out house at Storrs' Gampel Pavilion. As Mississippi State's Schaefer puts it: 'We understand that we have to maintain this level of intensity if we want to keep this going.' The players know, though, that the toughest battles are still in front of them. Of the 23 undefeated regular seasons in women's college basketball history, UConn owns nine. There are still many games to be played before UConn and Mississippi State know if they'll be facing off again, but their regular-season success already sets them apart, sort of. The parallel seasons of the lanky offensive powerhouse whose average margin of victory is 37.4 points versus the team that scrapped its way through one of the toughest conferences in women's basketball without missing a beat. It's a competitive field, and yet the Mississippi/UConn narratives are irresistible: the potential rematch of an unprecedented dynasty stocked with top recruits versus the homespun crew of local talent that stunned them with a buzzer-beater. They're far from the only teams poised to make a run in this year's NCAA tournament: Baylor has lost one game, while Louisville and Notre Dame have dropped just two each. Though Mississippi State snapped UConn's record-setting streak and cemented its first-ever national championship berth, both teams returned from Dallas without cutting down a net (South Carolina won the final, 67-55). 'Whatever I need to do to do that, I'm going to do.' In Storrs, Connecticut, it's known as 'the way last year ended.' As in, 'Especially the way last year ended, I'm just focusing on winning every single game,' UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson told reporters surrounding her after a 26-point performance against No. The ball fell through the hoop as the backboard turned red, and basketball history was made. William, 5'5', dribbled into the fray and pulled up near the free-throw line, soaring what looked like at least a foot-and-a-half in the air.

Diane webber autograph