Geno Auriemma

In some places if you get to the Final Eight and lose to the No. 1 seed and win 32 read more

In some places if you get to the Final Eight and lose to the No. 1 seed and win 32 games, there's 6,000 people waiting to meet you at the airport when you go home. But with us, with our tradition, people say, 'What happened?' We're just a team that came close . . . a team that almost had a chance to be great.

When you lose this game, there's nothing worse. There's nothing worse because this is the game that gets you to read more

When you lose this game, there's nothing worse. There's nothing worse because this is the game that gets you to the place where all good things can happen. This is the hardest hurdle to get over, because you need 12 more months then to get back here and you didn't put yourself in a position to win the national championship.

I'm glad that she's been patient enough and not kind of succumb to what a lot of coaches succumb to. read more

I'm glad that she's been patient enough and not kind of succumb to what a lot of coaches succumb to. Which is at the first sign of success they jump up to what they think is a greener pasture -- a big-time job somewhere else. But she's been patient enough to kind of build something that's going to be long lasting.

I'm just happy she's been able to have the kind of year, and her team has had the kind of read more

I'm just happy she's been able to have the kind of year, and her team has had the kind of year they've had. Tina desperately wants to win. She loves winning more than anything else. For her team to be No. 1 in the country and to be named the player of the year in the country, it's deserved on all fronts. She's a great kid and, I think, the best player.

I was trying not to play her a lot. I thought we were in pretty good shape at 12-4. I read more

I was trying not to play her a lot. I thought we were in pretty good shape at 12-4. I didn't realize that was the highlight of the first half.