I don’t think anyone was nervous before the game on Friday. If UConn was going to get upset by anyone, I would have expected it to be South Carolina, but Mississippi State? No one saw that coming. You have to give them credit though; Mississippi State did not let the intimidation factor get to them like most teams do against UConn. As a spectator and basketball player myself, I’ve seen great teams play their worst basketball against UConn. It’s not just that they are the most talented team, but that other teams allow themselves to be so intimidated, they end up with their worst shooting percentages or highest turnover ratios of the season. Mississippi State played fearlessly, and in the end, it worked out in their favor. Basketball is such a great game because you don't have to be the best team, you just have to be better than the best team for one night in order to make the championship.
As devastated as I was that UConn’s winning streak and chance at a fifth straight national championship ended on Friday, I know that they will use this experience to come back stronger next year. UConn Women’s basketball has done so much for the sport itself, and this one loss doesn’t change that. Here are some reasons why the Connecticut Huskies have changed the women’s game for the better.
1. People who weren’t even basketball fans or who would never tune in to watch a women’s game started paying attention
As a female basketball player, I can’t stress enough how great it is to walk into a room full of guys watching a women’s game. Uconn gave women’s basketball new importance. It added something exciting to the game. They were doing something historic, and it caught the country’s attention. Growing up hearing people joke around and say, “Well women’s basketball is kind of a sport” or “I could never watch a women’s game. It's so boring,” makes the attention they were getting that much more satisfying. Sure, (most) women can’t dunk or do some of the other things that makes the men’s game fun to watch, but they can win 111 games in a row. UConn Women’s basketball did something that has never been done before, and it is hard to not pay attention when something historic happens right in front of you.
2. They made defense fun to watch
Typically, people watch games to see amazing offense (and Uconn definitely delivered), but what was even more impressive was their defense. Defensive intensity is something that is difficult to keep consistent throughout an entire game, especially if you are winning by 30+ points. When a team who gets the amount of attention that Uconn does plays just as hard on the defensive end in the fourth quarter as they did in the first half, it sends a great message to basketball players across the country. They lead by example and proved that to be the best you don’t always have to make flashy offensive plays that will end up on a Sports Center highlight reel. Defense comes down to focus, relentlessness, and hard work. UConn proved that it is just as important as offense.
3. Despite the loss, they gave people a reason to be excited for next year’s season
It doesn’t matter that they lost; people will still watch their games next year because they want to see how the players will react to it. They have still done so much for the women’s game because people will continue to talk about them and what they have accomplished. More people will watch the national championship this year because they want to see “the team that beat UConn” play. Even with this loss, UConn still did so much for the women’s game because they got people talking. Although their run is over for this season, people will still talk about them and continue to notice what is happening in the world of women’s basketball.
As shocking as Friday’s loss was, it does not change the fact that because of this program, women’s college basketball has an audience that it did not previously have. Women’s college basketball is now being talked about as a topic of importance throughout the country, and the accomplishments of the Connecticut Huskies are one of the major reasons why.
Personally, I'm already excited for next year's comeback.
