CONGRATULATING UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STARS

On 2025-04-07, Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT-2) delivered a floor speech titled "CONGRATULATING UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STARS" in the House.

CONGRATULATING UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STARS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 62 (Monday, April 7, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 62 (Monday, April 7, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1423-H1424] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CONGRATULATING UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STARS (Mr. Courtney of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a stunning, dominant victory by the UConn women's basketball team yesterday over a very good University of South Carolina team by a margin of 23 points, which actually is lower than really where it was for most of the second half. It is an amazing group of women student athletes who, again, rose to the occasion to take the UConn women's basketball program into further heights with its 12th national title. All records are made to be broken, but it is hard to even imagine any other school's team that could come close to 12 national titles. They were led by Paige Bueckers who is going to be one of the greats in the history of college basketball. She scored 17 points and had numerous rebounds, steals, and blocks. She has had every award imaginable for a college basketball player: ESPY Award, John R. Wooden Award, and Naismith Awards, but winning that trophy which so far had eluded her is just a storybook way for her career at the University of Connecticut to finish. She was joined by Azzi Fudd, who is a junior, 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, which is really saying something when we have a teammate like Paige Bueckers. Lastly, a freshman, Sarah Strong, had 24 points and 15 rebounds. Over the course of the season watching her grow as a player playing with poise and maturity that defied someone of her young age was something quite striking and amazing. Their starting line-up was rounded out by Jana El Alfy and Kaitlyn Chen, a portal transfer from Princeton University, with a really deep bench. KK Arnold came out and provided lots of energy during the game. It was just an amazing team led by an amazing coach, Geno Auriemma. In 2006, which is a long time ago, he already was named to the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, which usually is reserved for coaches after they have retired. However, Geno just kind of keeps going on. Their last win was in 2009, and there were a lot of naysayers out there that while the UConn program has hit its peak, in 2023 in USA Today there was a headline: ``UConn's dynasty is officially dead. That is good news for women's college basketball.'' That is probably the ultimate bulletin board material for someone like Geno Auriemma, if you know him. What is so striking about Geno is just the loyalty of his players. He had all these former stars of the UConn program who have gone on to be at the WNBA who were all there yesterday in Tampa, Florida, rooting them on. The same for the bench. He is an amazing leader and a really talented coach. John Wooden, the legendary coach, never got 12 national titles during his time. I congratulate Coach Auriemma and the team. We have here the college basketball capital of the world. If we add on the six national titles that the men's program has actually accumulated since 1999, its total is 18. I was there for the first one. It was like a religious experience as a UConn fan and a UConn Law [[Page H1424]] School graduate. That is the same as the Boston Celtics have in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers have 18 titles, as well. Eighteen titles for a land-grant university in rural Connecticut defies any conventional wisdom about big, high-paying university programs. They just keep getting it done. Coach Hurley, who coaches the men's team, was rooting on Geno and the women as loudly as anyone. It is a great university sports program that brings everybody together. We are so proud of them, particularly in the Second Congressional District. I have the honor to represent the amazing university campus and stores and also Avery Point. Well done, bravo, and kudos to all of them. Just watching them celebrate on the court last night was really so exciting for all of us from Connecticut and from all across the country where many of these players come from. I was texting with the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, which is the home of Paige Bueckers, and he was as happy as anyone in Connecticut to see her great victory. ____________________