The Breanna Stewart Era has come to an end.
Four National Championships. Four NCAA Tournament Final Four MOP awards. Undefeated in the history of the AAC. Three National Player of the Year awards. First Team All-American honors. The list of Stewart’s accomplishments is nearly endless.
Stewart, along with Moriah Jefferson, has presided over the most dominant stretch in college basketball history. They don’t just win games; they crush souls.
Last night they took their final victim out to the woodshed and showed them exactly what the best team in women’s basketball can do. Syracuse never really stood a chance against this team, even with Katie Lou Samuelson out with a broken bone in her foot. The fact that walk-on senior Brianna Pulido got to play (and make the final basket!) was an extra bit of frosting on the top of an already delicious cake.
There is a certain amount of schadenfreude in the fact that UConn blew out former conference rival Syracuse. Cuse head coach Quentin Hillsman refused to schedule a game with UConn at Syracuse to give Stewart a hometown game her senior year. Cuse, which averages about 750 fans per game, may have exceeded their entire season’s worth of attendance in that one game. Hillsman turned down a lucrative game apparently because Stewart had the audacity to play for UConn instead of her hometown university. I think it’s safe to say she’s satisfied with her choice.
When Geno Auriemma was recruiting Stewart, she told him she wanted to win national championships. That she wanted to be the best player in the country. She has surpassed any expectation anyone could have had for her career.
Now, with her jersey up on the Husky Wall of Honor, we get the pleasure of deciding where she falls in the echelon of the all-time greats. Maya Moore, the consummate professional, Diana Taurasi, the badass who won when it was the most difficult, and Breanna Stewart, the player with the most impressive collection of skills I’ve ever seen in one human being. They have nine national championships between them. And we got to watch all of it. How lucky are we?
Next year will be different. Every game isn’t going to be won by 20-plus points. In fact, you should expect to see a number other than zero in the L column next season. Don’t get me wrong, UConn will still be very good. They’ll have a chance at a title, because they still have the best coach in the history of the women’s game, and it’s not like the pantry is empty with the loss of Stewart, Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. They’ll still have Samuelson and Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams, as well as the number three recruit and the number one point guard in this year’s graduating class, the excellently named Crystal Dangerfield. You’ll still be treated to the kind of UConn basketball that you’ve become accustomed to.
But it won’t be the same. This level of dominance will not be seen again. But do not mistake this fact: it was very, very good for the game. Because it has given other teams something to strive for. Stewart and her cohorts have set the high water mark for what a women’s basketball team can be. Now it’s up to everyone else to meet their standard.
Next year, when we’re watching a still good but not immortal team, we’ll have the memories of awe-inspiring dominance unparalleled in modern sport. We have been privileged to witness it. This team, these players, their accomplishments are historic. Enjoy it. Savor it. Because you will not see the likes of it again.
