GENO AURIEMMA

Men’s and women’s basketball coaches across the country are coping with the challenge of physical conditioning that comes with COVID-19 pauses.

UConn’s record 16-year run in the top 10 is over.

UConn says star Paige Bueckers has undergone successful surgery to repair the left leg fracture she suffered a week ago as well as a meniscus tear in that knee.

UConn sophomore Mir McLean has left the program and will transfer, UConn coach Geno Auriemma announced Monday. McLean, a little-used reserve from Maryland, played in 27 games at UConn and averaged 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds. A former McDonald's All-American in high school, the 5-foot-11 forward played eight minutes this season, did not score and had two rebounds. “Mir is extremely smart and athletic and she has a lot of potential,” Auriemma said.

Third-ranked UConn struggled again without star Paige Bueckers but managed to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since 1993, holding off UCLA 71-61.

Georgia Tech shut down No. 3 UConn in its first game since an injury to reigning national player of the year Paige Bueckers, defeating the Huskies 57-44 in a defensive slugfest.

Paige Bueckers scored 22 points but went down with an injury at the end of No. 2 UConn’s 73-54 win over No. 24 Notre Dame.

This week's Battle 4 Atlantis men's college basketball tournament in the Bahamas headlines the list of offshore events returning to the sport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The release of The Associated Press women’s basketball poll will be delayed a day because of a Monday afternoon matchup between the top two teams.

Scores, schedules and pairings for the 2021 Texas high school football and University Interscholastic League playoffs.

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams beginning with the current season, giving it an equal number of participants as the men’s tournament as part of a concerted effort at gender parity.

UConn comes into this season ranked No. 2, having added the nation’s top recruit, guard Azzi Fudd, to a team that returns last year’s collegiate national player of the year, Paige Bueckers, and every other starter from a squad that went to it’s 13th straight Final Four.

The Associated Press preseason women's All-America team is out and Paige Bueckers of UConn is a unanimous choice.

Sue Bird’s impressive 17-year Olympic journey will come to an end this weekend.

A report examining how the NCAA conducts its championship events is recommending that the association considers holding the men's and women's Final Fours in the same location.

There is definitely a UConn flavor to the women's basketball being played in the Tokyo Games.

Jennifer Gillom says everything is a process.

U.S. assistant Dan Hughes is not the face of the Olympic women's basketball team and he couldn't be happier in his role.

The groundbreaking ruling that went into effect on enabling college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness for the first time has sent college and university athletic directors and compliance officers scrambling.

Kobe Bryant is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame now, along with contemporaries Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, headliners of a group of nine who got their delayed and long-awaited enshrinement on Saturday night, more than a year after being announced as the Hall’s Class of 2020.

Michael Jordan will present Kobe Bryant for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month.

Vanderbilt has hired Shea Ralph away from UConn to help revive the Commodores’ struggling women’s basketball program.

Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford beat Arizona 54-53, giving the Cardinal and coach Tara VanDerveer their first national championship in 29 years.

UConn's star guard became the first freshman ever to win The Associated Press women's basketball player of the year award Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)SAN ANTONIO – Paige Bueckers is in a class all by herself. UConn's star guard became the first freshman ever to win The Associated Press women's basketball player of the year award Wednesday. “It’s amazing, surreal for people to think of me that highly and to be in that position as a freshman,” Bueckers said. But I don’t think you can.”___More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)SAN ANTONIO – Maryland coach Brenda Frese was honored as The Associated Press women's basketball coach of the year Wednesday for the second time in her career. Frese received eight votes from the 30-member national media panel that votes on the weekly AP Top 25. Obviously its going to be one I never forget,” said Frese, who also was AP coach of the year 19 years ago when she was at Minnesota. When Maryland won the Big Ten Tournament, Frese's father and mother, Donna, were in the stands in Indianapolis. “It's a memory I’ll cherish for a lifetime.”___More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – NCAA President Mark Emmert promised the Women's Basketball Coaches Association he will work with coaches to fix the “stark difference” between the Division I men's and women's tournaments. He asked Emmert what he could do to make sure those people give women's basketball the same advantages and opportunities. “Maybe that’s what has to happen in women’s basketball?” Auriemma said. "Maybe women’s basketball has got to separate itself from the other women’s sports? Yet for the women's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, only “NCAA Women's Basketball” was in the middle of the court.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)Arizona has been having fun and playing good basketball, all the way to its first women's NCAA Final Four. The 11-time national champions are making their 13th consecutive Final Four appearance and 21st overall for coach Geno Auriemma. The Cardinal's first Final Four since 2017 is their 14th overall, trailing only to UConn and Tennessee's 18. The Wildcats hadn't even been in the women's NCAA Tournament since 2005, though they would have made it last year with a 24-7 record before the tourney was canceled because of the pandemic. Stanford is in its 34th consecutive women's NCAA Tournament, with Tara VanDerveer in her record 35th overall as a coach.

Bueckers scored 28 points and top seed UConn used a huge run spanning the final two quarters to beat No. 2 Baylor 69-67 on Monday night and reach a 13th consecutive Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament. After a timeout, Baylor fouled Christyn Williams, who missed both free throws to give the Lady Bears one last chance. The Lady Bears (28-3) had won the previous two, including a 74-58 win at Connecticut in January of 2020. The Lady Bears closed the action-packed first quarter with a 20-10 run and trailed 26-24 after one.

UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) works the ball past Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the first half of a college basketball game in the Sweet Sixteen round of the women's NCAA tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – The game was billed as a marquee matchup of uber-talented freshmen Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. Williams scored 27 points and Bueckers added 18 to lead No. 1 UConn to a 92-72 win over fifth-seeded Iowa on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament. “I thought we played a great team basketball game," Williams said.

UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) drives under pressure from Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia (4) during the first half of a college basketball game in the second round of the women's NCAA tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. 1 seed UConn beat eighth-seeded Syracuse 83-47 on Tuesday night and advance to the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament. The Huskies led 64-35 after three quarters and cruised into the Sweet 16 for the 27th straight year. The loss ended the stellar career of Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia, who returned from breast cancer this season. UP NEXTUConn will face Iowa in a Sweet 16 matchup of two of the country's best freshmen: Bueckers and Caitlin Clark.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – UConn did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma. Bueckers scored 24 points — the most by a UConn player in her first NCAA Tournament game — and the top-seeded Huskies routed High Point 102-59 in the first round Sunday. “We just want to continue to win for him so he can get out here with us,” Bueckers said. Muhl injured her left ankle in the Big East Tournament opener, but returned for the Huskies' game the next night. “I think that was a little bit of improv from some of the players," High Point coach Chelsea Banbury said.

The freshman guard has lived up to it so far, delivering record-breaking performances and earning a spot on The Associated Press women's basketball All-American team Wednesday. She's only the third freshman to make the AP team, joining Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and UConn's Maya Moore. “Name one player that has taken a team this young to where we are today," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. She became the school's first women's basketball All-American last season. She was joined by Naz Hillmon, who is the first women's player at Michigan to earn All-America honors.

North Carolina State head coach Wes Moore cuts down the net after his team defeated Louisville in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA women's college basketball game in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 7, 2021. 1 seed for the women’s NCAA Tournament. 1 seed for the first time, joining Stanford, South Carolina and Connecticut on the top lines for the San Antonio-themed regions for the women's tourney. 1 seed is a is a great honor, obviously,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. Tennessee continued its streak of making the NCAA Tournament all 39 years.

The Hall of Famer received a positive result from a COVID-19 test taken on Sunday and is not experiencing any symptoms, the school said. The team's head physician said contact tracing protocols revealed that Auriemma did not have close contact with any other team member since Friday. “I’m feeling well but disappointed that I will be away from the team for the next several days,” he said. Auriemma said he was told that the full effect of vaccines does not occur until 14 days after the last inoculation. The Huskies (24-1) were forced to postpone the start of their season until Dec. 12 because of another positive test within the program and like most teams had several games canceled or postponed because of coronavirus-related issues.

It's the 16th time that the Huskies have completed the regular season as the top team in the poll. 1 seed in the women's NCAA Tournament when the field is announced Monday night. AdCONSISTENT WOLVERINESMichigan finished the season ranked 16th, marking only the second time in program history that the Wolverines were in the final poll. CONFERENCE SUPREMECYThe Southeastern Conference had six teams in the final poll with No. UNBEATEN LANCERSCal Baptist earned its first vote ever in the women's AP Top 25 after winning the WAC Tournament.

(David Butler/Pool Photo via AP)UConn, South Carolina, Stanford and Louisville are in line for the top seeds of the women's NCAA Tournament. The women's basketball selection committee revealed the top 16 teams to this point Monday night. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll earlier in the day, would be the overall top seed. “I would say that for every line we had a healthy amount of debate,” NCAA women's basketball selection committee chair Nina King said. The two schools were joined by Arkansas, DePaul, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Missouri State, South Dakota State and Washington State.

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, right, and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, left, meet before an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll. 1 South Carolina in overtime a week ago in a 1-vs-2 matchup. Stanford and South Carolina have the next longest active streaks, with two years. ___More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley confers with forward Aliyah Boston on the sideline during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll. South Carolina, which originally fell from the top spot after losing to North Carolina State, beat the Huskies last season for the first time in eight tries. Here are other tidbits from the poll:MILESTONEMonday marked the 800th women's college basketball poll in the AP's history. Ad___More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Connecticut's Aaliyah Edwards, left, drives to the basket past DePaul's Kiara Dallmann (42) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)CHICAGO – Christyn Williams scored a career-high 29 points, Paige Bueckers added 22 points and personal-best 10 assists, and No. “It’s just lousy playing basketball this time in their lives,” Auriemma said. Sonya Morris scored 19 for DePaul, which had won four in a row since a loss at UConn. March 7 and 17, 1993, when they lost to Providence in the Big East tournament and Louisville in the NCAA.

3 UConn, playing for the first time in 10 days, routed Butler 103-35 on Tuesday night. Tennessee transfer Evina Wesbrook chipped in with 14 points and freshman Paige Bueckers had 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Okako Adika scored 18 points for Butler (1-9, 1-8), despite spending most of the game in foul trouble, and Genesis Parker added 15 points. The Huskies led 25-15 after a quarter, and used a stifling defense to hold Butler to just 20 points the rest of the game. UConn: The Huskies heads to Knoxville for the first time in 15 years to face No.

“And those players that don’t want to play, don’t have to play,” he said. “And those coaches that don’t want to coach, don’t have to coach. “The NCAA has to have the almighty dollar from the men’s tournament," she said. “Maybe it’s easy if you’re at a Power Five football school and you’re making millions and millions and millions of dollars,” Auriemma said. ___More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

And so, in what has since become a viral video, Jackson, a 2006 UConn graduate who lives in Boston, posted a tweet of himself downing a large spoonful of Black Bison hot sauce, then taking another swig from the bottle, while chanting, "U-C-O-N-N, UConn, UConn, UConn." Another fan tweeted that he believed all UConn fans should follow suit, in penance for doubting their Huskies. Numerous fans began posting videos of themselves taking shots of hot sauce. One hot sauce brand got wind of the challenge and is offering discounts to participants who buy their sauce. “I mean, I'd have to celebrate with some hot sauce," he said.

And so, in what has since become a viral video, Jackson, a 2006 UConn graduate who lives in Boston, posted a tweet of himself downing a large spoonful of Black Bison hot sauce, then taking another swig from the bottle, while chanting, "U-C-O-N-N, UConn, UConn, UConn." Another fan tweeted that he believed all UConn fans should follow suit, in penance for doubting their Huskies. Numerous fans began posting videos of themselves taking shots of hot sauce. One hot sauce brand got wind of the challenge and is offering discounts to participants who buy their sauce. “I mean, I'd have to celebrate with some hot sauce," he said.

UConn has two more chances to play nonconference ranked teams, with Tennessee and South Carolina on the schedule. Conversely on the men's side, a majority of the current Top 25 have played at least one ranked nonconference opponent. The lack of marquee nonconference matchups could cause the NCAA women’s basketball selection committee some agita when trying to figure out who deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament and where teams should be seeded. We’ll have lively discussions.”Longtime ESPN and CBS analyst Deb Antonelli was sad that so many women's basketball games have been canceled or postponed. “COVID is COVID and we don’t want to penalize a team for the uncontrollable.”___More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Kyra Spiwak and Alyssa Geary each had 10 points to lead Providence (5-7, 3-4). Anna Makurat hit a 3-pointer that gave the Huskies their first lead at 13-12 and UConn led just 19-18 after the first quarter. Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook finished with 13 points for UConn and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 11. Providence: The Friars had been holding other teams to just 60.5 points per game. UConn: The Huskies were expected to face Xavier on Wednesday, but the Musketeers were forced to suspend basketball activities because of COVID-19.

(Stu Forster/Pool via AP)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The seventh-ranked Arizona women’s basketball game at Washington scheduled for Friday has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Huskies program. ___The Patriot League men’s basketball games between American and Lehigh scheduled for Saturday and Sunday have been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within the American men’s basketball program’s Tier 1 personnel. 3 UConn women's basketball team has had another game postponed because of coronavirus-related issues. The switch gives St. Pete promoters hope that more spectators will be permitted to attend the popular street festival as pandemic restrictions loosen. That move opened room on the schedule for St. Pete to request a later race date.

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey is shown during the second half of an NCAA women's college basketball game against South Florida Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Tampa, Fla. No. 3 UConn after Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19. 3 UConn after Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19. Baylor said it began restricting team activities after Mulkey tested positive on Monday, the same day she had been planning to rejoin the team. Mulkey missed Baylor's win Saturday at TCU because of contact tracing after being exposed on Christmas Day to a family member who tested positive.

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer, center, watches the action against Pacific during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. With a win over Pacific, VanDerveer will become the winningest women's coach in history breaking Pat Summitt's record of 1,098. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)STOCKTON, Calif. – Tara VanDerveer became the winningest women's college basketball coach Tuesday night, passing the late Pat Summitt with her 1,099th victory as No. “I really hope Pat Summitt is looking down and saying, ‘Good job Tara, keep it going,’” VanDerveer said. FROM ONE COACH TO ANOTHERDavid Shaw, Stanford’s 10th-year football coach, considers VanDerveer among the best ever in any sport, at any level — man or woman.

The NCAA announced Monday that San Antonio is the likely host site for the 64-team tournament next March. The NCAA expects the tournament to be played in late March and early April as usual, though there is a chance it could be shorter. “We don’t have an answer for that today.”This won’t be the first time a women’s tournament will be played at one site. From 1972-1977, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women played a 16-team postseason tournament at one site. The NCAA Tournament was first played in 1982.

Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes appreciated what former UConn teammate Maya Moore was doing when the All-Star forward stepped away from basketball two years ago to focus on criminal justice reform. UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been impressed by what many of his former players are accomplishing off the court. They were following who they are.Montgomery and Hayes smiled at the thought that a dozen years ago the UConn players had any aspirations of being social activists. Both Hayes and Montgomery loved seeing Auriemma and his wife and family at a protest in his community last month. I knew my mind wasnt there, my heart wasnt there, Montgomery said.

They, like thousands of other U.S. college students from foreign countries, are still overseas because of international travel bans instituted as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Auriemma said Wednesday. These issues are going to be really, really difficult to overcome, Auriemma said. "UConn has about 40 international athletes still overseas, the school said. Corasaniti said they are being told that right now college athletes and students in general are considered nonessential and must wait for travel restrictions to be lifted. Auriemma questions why international students aren't being given the same consideration.

STORRS, CT The UConn women's basketball team has announced it will play an exhibition in January against the U.S. women's national team. The U.S. team is playing various exhibitions against college teams ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Auriemma was the U.S. national coach when the teams won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. It's the third exhibition between a U.S. national team and the Huskies. The national team won in 1995 and 2007.

The Huskies just won a fourth straight national championship. In 2004, Morley Safer interviewed coach Geno Auriemma about the secret to their success.