UConn's Geno Auriemma Calls Out 'Unfortunate' Scenario NCAA Tournament Opponent Faced
The UConn Huskies women's basketball team cruised to an emphatic win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday, advancing to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma has got to be feeling good about the performance he saw from his team on Saturday, especially the historic stat line that star freshman Sarah Strong produced in her first NCAA Tournament game.
And while Auriemma did seem to be in good spirits after the game, he took a moment at the end of his postgame press conference to call attention to something Arkansas State had to deal with during their time in Storrs.
"I think it was unfortunate that [Arkansas State] stayed 45 minutes away from here," Auriemma said, per the March Madness YouTube account. "That's not a UConn thing, that's just the way that it played out... In the future, I would hope that when someone goes to the NCAA Tournament, whether it's their first time or 101st time, that they have the kind of experience. "
This was Arkansas State's first NCAA Tournament bid.
Auriemma later added, "I think those kids deserve a little better than that. Hopefully, they still enjoyed it. But that's a problem for the eight teams that are going to regionals, too. Because when you have eight teams in one place, it's not easy to find equitable accommodations for eight teams.
"If you're UConn, you don't give a damn... They've had all the experience they've ever dreamed of. But [if a] team gets to the NCAA Tournament for the first time, it shouldn't be like a regular season game some place. It should be pretty special," he continued.
Geno Auriemma closes his presser by expressing his disappointment that Arkansas State had to stay 45 minutes away from Storrs in CT this weekend (NCAA decision not UConn's)
— Maggie Vanoni (@maggie_vanoni) March 22, 2025
"Those kids deserve better than that ... that's a problem for the eight teams going to the regionals too."
Props to Auriemma for wanting to stick up for this much smaller school and program in Arkansas State.
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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.