Geno Auriemma’s ‘Rest’ Explanation for UConn Star Draws Attention After Win
The No. 1-ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team cruised to an 80-48 win over Butler on February 7. This marked the 20th consecutive game that UConn has won by at least 25 points, which marks the longest such streak by any women's college basketball team this century.
What's perhaps most impressive is that Geno Auriemma's squad secured this victory without superstar sophomore Sarah Strong, who is leading them in nearly every single offensive category this season.
Shortly before game time, news broke that Strong would be sidelined due to "rest". Because there was nothing else specified with this, a 20-year-old having to miss a game because of rest raised some eyebrows, especially given that the Huskies would have essentially assured that she wouldn't need to play in the game's second half because they were already winning by so much.
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Geno Auriemma Addresses Decision to Rest Sarah Strong After UConn Win
Legendary Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma does not need to explain his reasoning about anything to anybody at this point. However, he was more than fine speaking about the decision to rest Sarah Strong when he was asked about it by the media postgame.
When asked what went into the decision to rest Strong today, Auriemma said, "I think it goes all the way back to USA Basketball. So, just trying to make sure that whatever tightness she feels goes any further. And if she had to play today, she would have played. I mean, that's not the problem. But we've got a long way ahead of us," per a YouTube video from UConn.
"It's the college version, I guess, of load management," Auriemma added with a smile. "They didn't have that when they weren't getting paid. Now they have load management."
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Auriemma's answer makes it clear that Strong isn't dealing with anything serious, and nobody expected that she was. It's safe to assume that she'll be back in UConn's lineup in their next game, so long as something doesn't go awry between now and then.
In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to see Strong, Azzi Fudd, and perhaps some other Huskies players getting occasional rest throughout the rest of this regular season, given that UConn has proven an ability to dominate its opponents despite not being at full strength.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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