For UConn women’s basketball, the 2023-24 season was supposed to be one of dominance. Ranked No. 2 in the Week 6 AP Poll, Auriemma’s Huskies carried sky-high expectations, reinforced by odds at +460 to win the national championship, second only to South Carolina. Yet, a 79-68 loss to Notre Dame has exposed cracks in their foundation, leaving Geno Auriemma, the winningest coach in NCAA women’s basketball history, grappling with a harsh reality.

According to the Week 7 Top 25 list shared by The Best Damn W Show on X, UConn has now slipped to No. 5, a stark contrast to their early-season promise. Much of this shift is attributed to the 79-68 defeat handed to them by No. 8 Notre Dame.

Furthermore, according to the latest NCAA Women’s Basketball NET Rankings, UConn currently sits at No. 4 across all NCAA teams, with a strong 9-1 record in the Big East. However, UConn’s single loss has dropped them to a tie for the 27th position among teams with perfect records. This season, nine teams still boast undefeated records, and UConn’s performance across 10 games has been solid, with a scoring margin of 27.1% and a total of 790 points scored.

However, this may not be enough to dominate a highly competitive NCAA landscape this year and Geno knows this. Teams like Kansas State and LSU have been dominating with a scoring margin of 36.0 points or more. Both have played just 12 games but have already surpassed 1,000 total points, making it a tough job for UConn to dominate the NCAA , the way they were supposed to.

Hidalgo’s Historic Display Exposes Auriemma’s Vulnerabilities in UConn’s Loss to Notre Dame

This reality was starkly illustrated in their recent loss to Notre Dame. Going into the game, Auriemma acknowledged the challenge of facing formidable guards, saying, “I don’t know if there’s a better combination of guards than those two with how many different things they can hurt you with. Those guys are attacking you for the entire 40 minutes, and I don’t know that I’ve seen anybody up close yet that can do that.”

One of those guards, Hannah Hidalgo, delivered a spectacular performance, torching UConn with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. She became the first player in 25 years to record multiple games with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists against the Huskies.

Auriemma was quick to recognize Hidalgo’s unique talent, noting, “Her talent is obvious. There’s a talent level that she has that’s pretty unique. But I think more important is the way she attacks everything that she does.” Hidalgo’s six three-pointers, including a crucial buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter, proved to be a game-changing moment that ultimately shifted the momentum in Notre Dame’s favor.

For UConn, this loss serves as a stark reminder that dominance in women’s basketball is no longer a given. In a landscape filled with elite teams, success is earned, not assumed.