Playing their final regular-season game at Madison Square Garden, the UConn Huskies showed no sign of rust, pressure or overconfidence. IT was pure basketball, and another solid outing for Geno Auriemma’s team. The side defeated St. John’s Red Storm by an 85-49 scoreline and finished the season with a 31-0 record.
While ESPN’s Holly Rowe praises the program for pushing other basketball teams to do better, the 12-time champion coach understands the difficulty of the undefeated season and cautions that they need to take it one game at a time.
Geno Auriemma Puts Forward Mantra For Undefeated Season
After winning the conference title, the defending champions set their eyes on the NCAA Championship. Azzi Fudd, Sarah Strong and Allie Ziebell put up an offensive performance for the team to win the remaining game of the season and enter the March Madness as an undefeated side.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Auriemma mentioned that he is proud of the team and the amount of effort they have put in for the historic season. During the on-court interview, the coach gave insight into the success and said, “The amount of work that goes into it every day, a shootaround today, it’s as if we were playing the final four today, we try to treat every game with a lot of respect.”
Geno Auriemma's fresh thoughts on another perfect @UConnWBB regular season w/ @autumnjohnsontv 🙌
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) March 2, 2026
As they enter the postseason, he stresses that his squad treats "every game with a lot of respect." 🙏 pic.twitter.com/RZZb7exJwU
The Vanderbilt team’s HC, Shea Ralph, praised the UConn Huskies’ HC’s impact on her gameplans and preparations for the matches.
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Although the team enjoyed massive success in the regular season, the coach reflected on the difficulty in the March Madness games and silently recalled his former star to make it easier for him.
Geno Auriemma Still Misses Paige Bueckers
A 31-0 record seems incredible and gives the team confidence for the March Madness games, too. While theoretically, it seems very possible, the 71-year-old coach sees it differently.
“When the NCAA Tournament begins, it’s not going to be as easy as we experienced it last season. I think someone like Paige can do that. But we have enough good players to have as good a chance as anyone else out there to win a national championship,” Auriemma said in the post-game interview.
Geno: "When the NCAA Tournament begins, it's not going to be as easy as we experienced it last season. I think someone like Paige can do that. But we have enough good players to have as good a chance as anyone else out there to win a national championship."
— UConn WBB Weekly (@uconnwbbweekly) March 2, 2026
PB won the title in her final season with the Huskies, but even she couldn’t achieve an undefeated season with the championship side. The 2025-26 side looks ready for the March Madness challenge, and so is Bueckers in the ‘W’. Her Dallas Wings’ new head coach, Jose Fernandez, took advice from Auriemma on unlocking her full potential. The coach certainly has a big role to play for his current and former UConn stars.