MINNEAPOLIS -- UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma sat at the dais in the media room in Atlanta's McCamish Pavilion, arms crossed, voice subdued and his typical charisma replaced with something unheard of for the 11-time national championship coach: helplessness and feeling defeated.
Auriemma's Huskies had just fallen to Georgia Tech 57-44, their first loss to an unranked team in nearly a decade. They were two weeks into losing top 2021 recruit Azzi Fudd to a foot issue and four days removed from 2020-21 national player of the year Paige Bueckers going down with a knee injury that would sideline her for nearly three months.