NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart made it her goal to win four titles in her career at UConn. Now she and her Huskies are six wins away from accomplishing that unprecedented feat.
“Honestly, I don’t feel that much pressure,” Stewart said. “The pressure was more last year or my sophomore season, just because I needed those to finish this one. Now, it’s just this is it. This is my last try.”
The Huskies haven’t really talked about the history they could make over the next three weeks.
“They know obviously that this is an opportunity for them to win the fourth national championship. They know that,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “And they’ve known it since the first time we met at half court there for the first day of practice. The only other time it has been mentioned is in passing when they do something stupid and I say, ‘Teams that are trying to do something great, they don’t do that stuff, not in March.”
UConn’s road to a fourth straight national championship will begin at home.
The Huskies were the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament that was revealed Monday night. UConn (32-0) won’t have to leave the state until the Final Four in Indianapolis. The Huskies are in the Bridgeport Regional.
Joining the Huskies as the other No. 1 seeds are South Carolina, Notre Dame and Baylor. UConn has already beaten the Gamecocks and Irish this season. The Huskies would face Baylor on April 3 in the national semifinals if both teams advance that far.
Both UConn and Tennessee won three straight women’s titles, but no women’s team has four consecutive championships. The UCLA men’s team won seven in a row. A title this year would give Auriemma 11 in his career, breaking a tie with vaunted UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden.
First up for the Huskies, who have been a No. 1 seed for 10 straight years, is 16-seed Robert Morris. The Colonials won the NEC championship.
The top four seeds in each region will host the opening two rounds except for No. 4 Michigan State, which has a conflict so fifth-seed Mississippi State will take over as the host.
Tennessee earned a No. 7 seed, the lowest in school history. The Lady Vols, who have played in every NCAA Tournament, will face Green Bay in the opening round at Arizona State.
“Is it where we usually are? No, but it’s a great spot for us to go to work,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said.
Other notables from the bracket:
Duquesne headlined five first-time NCAA Tournament teams. The ninth-seeded Dukes are the only at-large team of the group and open up against Seton Hall. Other newcomers include Buffalo, Central Arkansas, Iona and Jacksonville.
For the first time since 1988, Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State all missed the tournament. The Blue Devils, who had been in the tournament the past 21 years, were on the bubble to get in.
Iowa, N.C. State, Ohio and UTEP were the first four teams left out of the field according to the NCAA. While Princeton, Missouri, Purdue and St. Bonaventure were the final four in.
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