Connecticut beats Syracuse, wins NCAA crown and reaches a perfect (38-0) ending

REPORTING FROM INDIANAPOLIS —  In time, future generations will want to know about the man who built the castle in the cornfield, the women’s basketball program that for decades defined greatness, consistency and dedication to task.

They will look back and study his methodologies, remember the great players that raised Connecticut and turned it into the model others could only aspire to imitate.

Eventually, they will turn to what happened Tuesday at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the nation’s heartland. They will call it the coronation, the day when the Huskies once and for all stood apart.

See the most-read stories in Sports this hour>>

The greatest senior class in the history of the game, and its architect, Geno Auriemma, did something no one had ever done before.

Led by their Big Three of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson, the Huskies drilled Syracuse, 82-51, to win the NCAA Division I championship and make more history.

The title was an unprecedented fourth straight for the Huskies (38-0). It was their 11th, one more than John Wooden won at UCLA. And it tied Phil Jackson, who won 11 NBA titles in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The win was also the NCAA-record 151st for the class of Stewart, Tuck and Jefferson, the only trio in NCAA Division I basketball history to win four national titles.

And it affixed a bright blue bow on a sixth undefeated season that will take the Huskies into next year on a 75-game winning streak, 15 short of tying their all-time record.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” said Stewart, voted the Final Four’s outstanding player for the fourth straight year. “In each of our national championship runs we were confident.

“It’s all hard to put into words. I don’t know how one would describe this. We made history. And to be able to say we made it with those two guys” —Tuck and Jefferson — “is something we will remember it forever.”

Stewart led the Huskies with 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Tuck had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. And Jefferson scored 13 points with five assists.

“There are three ingredients that go into this type of success,” Auriemma said. “One [Stewart], two [Jefferson] and three [Tuck]. … They did something which has never been done before.”

Cornelia Fondren led the Orange (30-8) with 16 points.

The Huskies won by slipping through the tough exterior of a bold Syracuse, program playing in its first Final Four. The Orange made it this far to the title game relying on their defensive fortitude, boundless energy and timely three-point shooting. But until the third quarter, when the Orange cut a 60-27 lead to 60-43, forcing mistakes with their press, Syracuse was no match for Connecticut. .

Napheesa Collier ended the confounding 16-0 run with two quick baskets that sent the Huskies into the fourth quarter ahead 64-43.

There was never any doubt about the game. The Huskies roared to a 9-0 lead in the first 3 minutes 27 seconds, using a pair of three-pointers from Stewart and Jefferson to help build the lead.

Syracuse’s response was to try to make its trademark three-pointers — the Orange had 12 in their semifinal win over Washington — but they missed their first three and the Huskies built their advantage.

The first double-figure lead came on a three-pointer from Stewart with 4:12 to play in the first quarter. That made the score 18-6. As the quarter ended they led 28-13.

Any hope the Orange had of tightening the deficit with pressure defense quickly faded when the Huskies were so adept at breaking it. They turned the ball over six times in the first half and shot 16 for 31 to take a 50-23 lead.

Syracuse was not moving the ball well in the half, shooting only 30% percent from the field.

It ended the game two for 19 from three-point range.

MORE SPORTS

Jordan Spieth has to bring his green jacket back to Augusta

Marina del Rey’s Gabe Levin is part of Southland presence at Frozen Four

Dodgers hope Utley can continue to provide pop from the top of the lineup

[email protected]