One-of-one.
That’s the phrase Head Coach Geno Auriemma used to describe his former point guard, Sue Bird.
“There was never a sometime, it was all the time.” Auriemma said Saturday to the media on her trustworthiness and dedication as a player, “That carried over to the WNBA, the Olympic team, just legendary, you know, one-of-one.”
Now, 8,652 days since she last wore her UConn jersey, the program officially retired her No. 10 Sunday afternoon, before the program’s 102-35 win against the DePaul Blue Demons.
Bird joined her fellow alumnae Rebecca Lobo and Swin Cash in the rafters of Gampel Pavilion, alongside Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton from the men’s basketball team.
Since taking off that jersey, the guard has become a trailblazer and advocate for women in sports. Not to mention, she has accomplished numerous accolades.
Just to name a few, she has been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, has five Olympic gold medals and has a statue in her name for the Seattle Storm, her WNBA team.
Oh, and she was just inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this past September.
Having returned to the Basketball Capital of the World this weekend, Bird said she enjoyed reminiscing with her friends and family about what attracted her to UConn’s program in the first place.
When speaking to the media, Bird highlighted that when she first visited UConn, they had only won their first National Championship in 1995. However, she knew Auriemma and his Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey could get her to where she needed to be, to become the best version of herself.
“I think about my time here, I think about UConn; it’s really a place where I grew up, a place where a lot of who I am as a person, as a player, that foundation was built.” Bird said moments before her plaque was unveiled.
Bird was joined by her fiancée, Megan Rapinoe, her mother, Nancy, her sister Jen and her two nieces on the court to receive her hand-held plaque and have a front row seat to see her jersey retired.
Beforehand, though, Auriemma had some special remarks about Bird and how much she has impacted women’s sports.
“You know you’re something special when people; they don’t go ‘Sue.’” Auriemma said, “Her first name since we all met, it’s ‘Sue Bird’ […] I want to introduce a living legend, who we’ve had the privilege of watching and getting to know, the greatest point guard ever in the history of basketball, men’s or women’s, Sue Bird.”
To which Bird responded, “You’ve never said that before, in front of me,” with a chuckle.
For anyone who has been a fan of Auriemma and his UConn women’s basketball program over his 41-year tenure, there is something special between Auriemma and his players.
Now, after winning their 12th National Championship and Auriemma becoming the winningest college basketball coach in history, the top-ranked Huskies have looked dominant over their first eight matchups in their 2025-26 campaign.
With Sunday afternoon being their second Big East game of the season, Connecticut immediately took control of the game.
To start things off, it seemed as if it was a scoring competition between Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, with a turnover from the Blue Devils between each UConn possession.
“Nothing means more to me than how efficient they are, and what they can do.” Auriemma said to the media postgame when asked about the offensive intensity both players brought to the game.
Strong and Fudd each finished with 20 and 16 points, respectively and four rebounds apiece. Fudd also finished her afternoon shooting 4-5 from three.
However, as time went on in the first, Auriemma utilized the depth of his bench to his advantage. Players like Caroline Ducharme and Kelis Fisher saw time in the early moments of the second quarter.
Connecticut’s fast and intense full-court pressure proved to be the Achilles heel for DePaul. At the end of the first half with the score 58-18, DePaul had more turnovers (19) than points.
“I feel like one thing that stands out was how much turnovers that we got was created for our offense.” KK Arnold said to the media postgame, “And I feel like that’s been our biggest thing, how we can create havoc to start our offensive break, to settle us in more and get us going.”
The second half told the same story, with the Huskies staying productive on all ends of the court. Out of the 32 turnovers Connecticut forced, the Huskies scored 52 off those turnovers. Compared to DePaul’s 10 points in the paint, the Huskies scored 60, all contributing to their second conference win of the season.
Next up, the Huskies will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. for a head-to-head 2025 Elite 8 rematch against the No. 16 USC Trojans. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and Husky fans can tune into the bout on Fox or listen in on 97.9 FM.