Championship Game Notes
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2013 NCAAÒ WOMEN’S FINAL FOURÒ National Championship - #1 Connecticut 93, #5 Louisville 60 New Orleans Arena · New Orleans, La. Tuesday, April 9 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NOTES • The Big East won its ninth women’s basketball national championship tonight. The nine national titles surpass the SEC, who has eight, for the most all-time. • This marks just the fifth time that conference schools have met for the national title: 1989 (Tennessee over Auburn), 1996 (Tennessee over Georgia), 2006 (Maryland over Duke) and 2009 (Connecticut over Louisville). • With Louisville holding a 14-10 lead at the 13:51 mark of the first half, UConn exploded for 19 straight points to take a 29-14 lead with 8:48 left in the half. Louisville got as close as 11 (29-18) with 7:55 left but UConn outscored the Cardinals 19-11 the rest of the way to take a 48-29 lead into the locker room. UConn Notes: • With the win, UConn improves to 35-4 overall and wins its first national championship since claiming back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. • Tonight’s win gives UConn its eighth women’s basketball national championship. • Connecticut ties Tennessee for the most NCAA titles in history with its eighth (1995, 2000, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’09, ’10, and ’13). All eight titles have come under Geno Auriemma and he is now tied with Tennessee’s Pat Summit for the most all time for a head coach in women’s basketball history. • The Huskies have an 8-0 record in national championship games with wins over Tennessee (1995, 2000. ’03, ’04), Oklahoma (2002), Louisville (2009, ’13) and Stanford (2010). • Connecticut has an all-time record of 91-17 in NCAA Tournament play. The 91 wins are the second most wins in tournament history. Connecticut has an .842 all-time winning percentage, which is the best in tournament history. • The Huskies made their 14th trip to the NCAA Final Four and have an all-time record of 16-6 at the Women’s Final Four. • Auriemma now holds the record for most consecutive Women’s Final Four appearances, bringing his sixth straight team. He also had a streak of five straight from 2000-04. Auriemma has the best NCAA winning percentage of any coach in history (.842) and ranks second with 91 tournament wins and Women’s Final Four wins (16). • This marks just the second time that a team has defeated two teams from its conference in the Final Four to claim the national title (Maryland, 2006) • The 33-point margin of victory is the most for an NCAA championship game. The previous record was 23 (Tennessee 67, Louisiana Tech 44, 1987) • Breanna Stewart becomes just the fourth freshman and first since 1987 to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Women’s Final Four. The other three were Cheryl Miller (USC, 1983); Clarissa Davis (Texas, 1986); and Tonya Edwards (Tennessee, 1987). Stewart becomes the first freshman since Maryland’s Kristi Toliver in 2006, to be made to the Women’s Final Four all- tournament team. • The 93 points are tied for the second most in an NCAA championship game, trailing only the 97 scored by Texas against USC in 1986. • Connecticut’s 517 points for the NCAA Tournament are the third-most all-time. The Huskies’ 43 three-pointers for the tournament are the sixth-most all-time and their 71 steals for the six-games are the third-most. • Connecticut’s 48 first-half points are the fourth-most in a half an NCAA championship game. • Breanna Stewart’s 52 combined points during the Women’s Final Four are the seventh-most all- time. • Connecticut posted the second-most field goals in an NCAA championship game (35) • Connecticut’s 13 three-point field-goals are the most in an NCAA Final Four game (semifinal or final) while the Huskies’ .500 three-point percentage is the second best in an NCAA championship game and their 26 three-pointers attempted are tied for the most in a title game. • Connecticut’s 19 combined three-pointers are the most in an NCAA Final Four. • Kelly Faris started her 115th straight game in a Connecticut uniform, which ranks third on the Huskie’s all-time list for consecutive starts. • With six three-pointers, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added to her record for most three-pointers in a season in Connecticut history (119). • Mosqueda-Lewis’ six three-pointers tonight are tied for the most for an NCAA title game, while her combined seven treys are tied for the fourth most in a Women’s Final Four, one off the record. • Mosqueda-Lewis also moved past Sue Bird and Jennifer Rizzotti and into sixth on the Huskies’ all-time career three-points list (212) • Breanna Stewart had 17 blocked shots during this year’s NCAA Tournament, the 12th most in tournament history, while Connecticut’s 49 team blocks are third most. • Connecticut had a .844 free-throw percentage for the tournament (76-90), the second best for an entire NCAA Tournament, while the Huskies’ .525 field-goal percentage (199-379) is seventh- best for an entire tournament. Louisville Notes: • Louisville ends its season at 29-9 overall, reaching the national title game for the second time in school history (2009). The 29 wins are the second-most in school history behind the 35 victories posted during the 2008-09 campaign. • Louisville is the lowest seed ever to reach the championship game. Louisville is the seventh team since the NCAA expanded to 64 teams (1994) that has reached the national championship game with a seed other than a No. 1 or No. 2. The previous lowest seed to reach the championship game since 1994 is a No. 4 (Louisiana Tech in 1994 and Rutgers in 2007). • Senior forward Monique Reid played in her 141st career game, and is Louisville’s all-time leader for games played. • Louisville made just its second-ever appearance in the Women’s Final Four and second-ever appearance in the national championship game. The Cardinals first reached the Women’s Final Four in 2009, falling to Connecticut in the championship game. • With eight attempts from behind the arc tonight, junior guard Shoni Schimmel extended her school record for three-pointers attempted in a season to 391. • The 33-point loss was Louisville’s largest loss of the season, topping the 29-point loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 11 (a 93-64 Notre Dame win). The 93 points surrendered was also a season high, as Notre Dame scored 93 in the February contest. • UConn’s 13 three-pointers made were the most given up by the Cardinals this season. General Notes: • Tonight’s match-up between UConn and Louisville was a rematch of the 2009 national title game, which UConn won 76-54. It marks just the third pair of teams to play multiple times in a national title game. Tennessee and Connecticut have played four times while Tennessee and Louisiana Tech have met twice. • Tonight’s game marks just the third repeat match-up in a national championship game. Tennessee has played Connecticut four times for the title, while Tennessee has met Louisiana Tech twice. Connecticut and Louisville also played for the championship in 2009. • During halftime, the NCAA honored players, coaches and administrators who advanced the women’s game during the AIAW era, prior to when the NCAA began sponsoring women’s athletics in 1981-82. Those honored were: o Players: Carol Blazejowski (Montclair State), Debbie Brock (Delta State), Denise Curry (UCLA), Ann Meyers Drysdale (UCLA), Suzie Snider Eppers (Baylor), Pamela Kelly- Flowers (Louisiana Tech), Nancy Lieberman (Old Dominion), Pearl Moore (Francis Marion), and Lynette Woodard (Kansas); o Players/Head coaches: Theresa Shank, Marianne Crawford Stanley; o Head coaches: Carol Eckman, Lily Margaret Wade, Sonja Hogg, Billie Moore,and Cathy Rush; o Administrators: Christine Grant, Judie Holland, Donna Lopiano, Judy Sweet, and Charlotte West. .