Norristown's Geno Auriemma earns NCAA record 1,217th victory as No. 2 UConn beats Fairleigh Dickinson
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Norristown's Geno Auriemma became the winningest coach in NCAA college basketball history, earning his 1,217th victory as No. 2 UConn beat Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 on Wednesday night.
Auriemma broke a tie with retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for the most victories all-time. Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski holds the men's record with 1,202. Auriemma began his journey with UConn in 1985 and is 1,217-162 in his career. He has only had one losing season — his first one with the Huskies.
Auriemma, who emigrated to Norristown, Montgomery County, from Southern Italy when he was 7 years old, graduated from West Chester University in 1977. He had coaching stints at Bishop McDevitt High School in Cheltenham Township, Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Bishop Kernick High School in Norristown and the University of Virginia before landing at UConn in 1985.
The Huskies (4-0) celebrated Auriemma and associated head coach Chris Dailey's 40 years at the school with more than 60 alums, including former UConn greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Rebecca Lobo in attendance.
UConn's latest star, Paige Bueckers, led the way with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Freshman Sarah Strong had 20 points.
FDU (4-2) hung around for the first few minutes and only trailed 14-12 before UConn scored nine of the final 11 points of the quarter. The Knights didn't get within single digits the rest of the way.
Takeaways
FDU: The Knights won their first four games this season — the first time that happened in 33 years.
UConn: The Huskies are finally starting to get healthy which will give Auriemma a deeper bench as the season progresses.
Key moment
Azzi Fudd made her return to the UConn lineup after missing the last year with a right knee injury. She checked in with 3:39 left in the first quarter. She received a loud ovation from the crowd when she came into the game.
Key stat
FDU coach Stephanie Gaitley is 24th on the NCAA wins list and is two victories short of 700.
Up next
FDU hosts Saint Peter's on Saturday while UConn heads to the Bahamas to play in a tournament. The Huskies' first game is against Oregon State on Monday.