Geno Auriemma ties mark for most coaching wins in Greensboro as UConn beats UNC
Courtney Banghart grew her coaching chops by listening to people like Geno Auriemma, and the North Carolina women's basketball coach gave him his props for reaching a milestone at her team's expense.
Second-ranked UConn took a 69-58 victory over the 14th-ranked Tar Heels, allowing Auriemma, 70, to tie the record for career victories in Division I men's or women's basketball.
In his 40th season with the Huskies (3-0), Auriemma earned his 1,216th career victory to tie retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.
"You know, the thing that I learned from Geno in doing my graduate work and interviewing him was one of the most valuable things I had heard as I was trying to figure out if coaching" was what she wanted to do, Banghart said in the post-game interview. "The second part of that is, would I be any good at it?
"He gave me, a young coach who was still figuring out what I was going to do with these expensive degrees, real validation," she said.
On Friday night, Auriemma gave Banghart one more thing: a first-half offensive outburst led by Paige Bueckers that eventually ended the Tar Heels' season-opening winning streak at three games.
During his time in front of reporters, Auriemma said he never expected to remain in coaching this long.
"It was a favor that I did for somebody, and it turned into a hobby, something to do to pass the time. Then, it just became all this," he said. "I never envisioned it lasting this long. I don't think anybody goes into anything thinking that they're going to spend 40 years of their life at one place doing the exact same thing. The best way I can describe it, it just caught up to me. It just happened."
After taking a victory at North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, the Tar Heels were back in Greensboro to see if they could grab another triumph. While Carolina had its hands full dealing with the Huskies, what Carolina didn't have on its hands was the basketball, at least not consistently. They committed 10 turnovers in the first half, allowing UConn to establish a comfortable cushion that wasn't seriously threatened.
Of UConn's first 14 points, Bueckers had 10. That included a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer that gave the Huskies a 25-14 edge.
Carolina's offense had trouble establishing any kind of presence in the UConn interior defense, and when their shots weren't being contested, the Tar Heels (3-1) were turning the ball over. They committed seven of their 10 first-half turnovers in the first quarter.
It got no better for Carolina, which went from 50% shooting in the first 12 minutes to 29% in the second quarter. The lack of accuracy, combined with an 11-2 start to the period, put the Tar Heels in a 38-18 hole at the 3:42 mark. Carolina regained its touch long enough to put up an 8-0 run to end the half trailing 38-26.
Carolina was still down 58-42 at the end of three quarters, and it tried to make it a little more interesting down the stretch. The Tar Heels cut the gap to 61-52 at the 7:02 mark on an Indya Nivar drive. But two missed free throws and a turnover killed the momentum.
Nivar finished with 15 points and nine rebound for Carolina. Bueckers led all scorers with 29 points, and Sarah Strong, who's from Durham, added 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Banghart showed no dejection after the loss. She expressed her admiration for the coach who helped get her started and who also helped raise the profile of women's college basketball.
"He deserves his flowers," she said, adding, "He lifts others up. He has brought people with him. So you're talking to a Geno fan."
