USA Assistant Coach Recalls Beating Geno

There are grand total of two schools that can claim a winning record against Geno Auriemma. One no longer exists -- U.S. International of San Diego, which is now Alliant International University ... and doesn't have a basketball team -- and the other is LaSalle.

U.S. International of San Diego is 1-0 against UConn after a 96-88 win back in November 1986. LaSalle, meanwhile, holds a 3-0 lead over the Huskies and Auriemma, the last meeting coming in December 1989.

Such obscure facts might remain obscure if not for Cheryl Reeve serving as a reminder. She's an assistant on Auriemma's Team USA staff who played at LaSalle from 1984-1988.

“I was on the bench and I remember it well, like it was yesterday,” Reeve told SNY.com's Carl Adamec. “I remember Kelly Greenberg got hurt, tore her eardrum, near the end of the game. We came back and won.

“I actually go back a little further with Geno. In 1986, UConn came down and played in the La Salle tournament we had. I was a player and we beat them. I let him know about it. Not that many people can say they were on a team that beat Geno’s team. But that was before UConn was UConn.”

Reeve's line from the '86 game: six points, three assists, four turnovers.

Auriemma's response upon hearing this?

"She reminds me of it all the time,” he told Adamec. “Four turnovers? We’ll be talking about that.”

Contact Us