# 2001–02 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team

The 2001–02 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2001–2002 NCAA Division I basketball season. Coached by Geno Auriemma, the Huskies played their home games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and on campus at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, and are a member of the Big East Conference. At the Big East women's basketball tournament, the Huskies won the championship by defeating Boston College 96–54. The Huskies won their third NCAA championship by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners, 82–70. The starting five of Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams, and Diana Taurasi are generally considered the greatest starting lineup in Women's College Basketball history.
On December 29, 2011, the team was recognized as one of the greatest in the program's history by induction into the Huskies of Honor.

## Roster changes

Five players from the 2000–01 team (Shea Ralph, Svetlana Abrosimova, Kelly Schumacher, Christine Rigby, and Marci Czel) were seniors and are no longer part of the team. One sophomore player, Kennitra Johnson, decided to leave UConn to be closer to her mother, and transferred to Purdue. Two freshmen joined the team: Ashley Valley, younger sister of Morgan Valley, and Stacey Marron. Although Marron had received scholarship offers from other schools, she chose to apply to UConn and attempt to make the team as a walk-on. She succeeded, and eventually earned a full scholarship, the first Connecticut walk-on to earn a basketball scholarship.
Two other players were not new to the program, but 2001-2002 was their first full season. Ashley Battle was a freshman in the prior year, but sustained an elbow injury in the fifth game of the season, and did not play the remainder of the season. Battle applied for a medical hardship, often called a redshirt. Jessica Moore also joined the team in the prior year, but elected not to play her first year.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Fairfield | W 93–50 | 1–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut |
| November 11, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Florida International | W 91–47 | 2–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| November 15, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | North Carolina | W 94–74 | 3–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| November 18, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | No. 3 Vanderbilt | W 69–50 | 4–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| November 24, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Rhode Island | W 84–38 | 5–0 | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut |
| November 26, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | at Wake Forest | W 88–38 | 6–0 | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1,137) Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| November 30, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Ball State | W 103–69 | 7–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| December 4, 2001 CPTV | No. 1 | St. John's | W 88–28 | 8–0 (1-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| December 6, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Holy Cross | W 97–54 | 9–0 | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| December 9, 2001* ESPN2 | No. 1 | No. 8 Louisiana Tech | W 74–50 | 10–0 | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| December 22, 2001* ESPN2 | No. 1 | No. 3 Oklahoma | W 86–72 | 11–0 | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| December 27, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | Cal State–Northridge | W 101–44 | 12–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| December 29, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | at No. 23 Old Dominion | W 84–70 | 13–0 | Ted Constant Convocation Center (5,236) Norfolk, Virginia |
| December 31, 2001* CPTV | No. 1 | at Wright State | W 97–39 | 14–0 | Nutter Center (4,762) Dayton, Ohio |
| January 2, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | Pittsburgh | W 112–43 | 15–0 (2-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| January 5, 2002* CBS | No. 1 | at No. 2 Tennessee | W 86–72 | 16–0 | Thompson–Boling Arena (24,611) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| January 9, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at St. John's | W 84–43 | 17–0 (3-0) | Carnesecca Arena (2,014) Queens, New York |
| January 12, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | Miami | W 96–50 | 18–0 (4-0) | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| January 15, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at Georgetown | W 85–41 | 19–0 (5-0) | McDonough Gymnasium (2,146) Washington, DC |
| January 19, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at Villanova | W 93–60 | 20–0 (6-0) | Finneran Pavilion (5,127) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| January 21, 2002 ESPN | No. 1 | Notre Dame | W 80–53 | 21–0 (7-0) | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| January 26, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | No. 24 Boston College | W 79–56 | 22–0 (8-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| January 29, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at No. 23 Virginia Tech | W 59–50 | 23–0 (9-0) | Cassell Coliseum (6,069) Blacksburg, Virginia |
| February 3, 2002 BETV | No. 1 | at Providence | W 85–61 | 24–0 (10-0) | Alumni Hall (2,574) Providence, Rhode Island |
| February 6, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | Seton Hall | W 92–40 | 25–0 (11-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| February 10, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | No. 23 Virginia Tech | W 77–42 | 26–0 (12-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| February 13, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at Syracuse | W 85–55 | 27–0 (13-0) | Carrier Dome (3,328) Syracuse, New York |
| February 20, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | Providence | W 106–41 | 28–0 (14-0) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| February 23, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at Rutgers | W 80–42 | 29–0 (15-0) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (7,223) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| February 26, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | at West Virginia | W 89–60 | 30–0 (16-0) | WVU Coliseum (1,394) Morgantown, West Virginia |
| 2002 Big East Women's Basketball Tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2002 CPTV | No. 1 | vs. Seton Hall Big East Tournament - Quarterfinals | W 78–48 | 31–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,332) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 4, 2002 BETV | No. 1 | vs. Villanova Big East Tournament - Semifinals | W 83–39 | 32–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,533) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 5, 2002 ESPN2 | No. 1 | vs. No. 20 Boston College Big East Championship Game | W 96–54 | 33–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,278) Piscataway, NJ |
| 2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 16, 2002* | No. 1 | (16) St. Francis (Pa) | W 86–37 | 34–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| March 17, 2002* ESPN | No. 1 | Iowa | W 86–48 | 35–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| March 23, 2002* ESPN2 | No. 1 | No. 24 Penn State | W 82–64 | 36–0 | U.S. Cellular Arena (7,123) Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| March 25, 2002* ESPN2 | No. 1 | vs. No. 15 Old Dominion | W 85–64 | 37–0 | U.S. Cellular Arena (6,997) Milwaukee,WI |
| March 29, 2002* ESPN | No. 1 | No. 6 Tennessee | W 79–56 | 38–0 | Alamodome (29,619) San Antonio, Texas |
| March 31, 2002* ESPN | (1 ME) No. 1 | (1 W) No. 4 Oklahoma National championship | W 82–70 | 39–0 | Alamodome (29,619) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Team players drafted in the 2002 WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | WNBA Club |
| 1 | 1 | Sue Bird | Seattle Storm |
| 1 | 2 | Swin Cash | Detroit Shock |
| 1 | 4 | Asjha Jones | Washington Mystics |
| 1 | 6 | Tamika Williams | Minnesota Lynx |
Additionally, Diana Taurasi was also the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA draft. In the 2005 WNBA draft, Jessica Moore was selected 24th overall, and Ashley Battle was selected 25th overall.

## Awards and honors

* Sue Bird, Naismith Award
* Sue Bird, Wade Trophy
* Sue Bird, Nancy Lieberman Award
* Sue Bird, Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
* Sue Bird Sportswoman of the Year Award
* Sue Bird Big East Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year
* Sue Bird Honda Sports Award, basketball
* Swin Cash, Tournament Most Outstanding Player
* Asjha Jones, Most Outstanding Player, Big East women's basketball tournament
* Geno Auriemma Naismith College Coach of the Year
* Geno Auriemma WBCA National Coach of the Year