Chattanooga Will Be Stiff Test for UConn

Geno Auriemma is 3-3 in his career against good friend Jim Foster

Geno Auriemma has never been a proponent of soft schedules to prepare his team. As best we can tell, his thinking goes something like this: Iron sharpens iron. Put another way: You're not going to get better by playing a bunch of cream puffs.

That explains the early season matchups against traditional powerhouses Stanford and Notre Dame. This brings us to University of Tennessee-Chatanooga. Coach Jim Foster, who gave Auriemma his start in coaching, has led his team to wins over Tennessee AND Stanford in the last three weeks, and a season from now, UTC and UConn will begin a home-and-home series.

“Jim said they wanted to play us,” Auriemma said on Wednesday, via SNY.com's Carl Adamec. “I told him to call (UConn senior women’s administrator) Deb Corum and they put it together. I think it’s great. It wasn’t my idea. I didn’t go up to him and say we should be playing. It was his idea. He wanted to do it and I’m glad it got done. ...

“He’s got a pretty ambitious schedule -- us, Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee …,” Auriemma continued. “But they’re in a conference that’s usually a one-bid league. They’re doing the right thing. If something were to happen that they lose in their league tournament, they could have the kind of record or kind of resume that might still get them in the NCAA tournament. Chattanooga was always good when Wes Moore was (the coach) and Jim has picked up right where they left off.”

UTC is 7-3 this season. Auriemma is 3-3 lifetime against Foster.

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