And from then on there was no looking back. And because she had always been tall for her age, coaches often wanted her inside as a rebounder. But she was committed to improving her game. Brian, always looking out for her development, recommended she dribble a basketball around the block. They repeated the argument the following day. And so on. Until finally she did it just to please him. But little by little it grew on her. And eventually, it became her thing.
Breanna dribbled around the block consistently until she graduated. This simple exercise improved her ball handling to the point she routinely dribbled behind her back or between her legs. And the best part was that she could clearly see the amount improvement.
But by the time she was a high school senior, she could dribble between her legs all the way around the block. It helped her make the connection early on, that when you work hard, you get rewarded, and see results. And one thing was certain: she wanted more results. Many parents and players wondered why she — someone so young — was there, but she quickly delivered.
In one of the first games she came out of nowhere to block the shot of a much older player, sending the ball beyond the three-point line to another opponent. And stole the ball, dribbling toward her basket. Everyone was stunned. Then, Breanna missed the layup. This type of performance was typical for her at the time. And it was clear she had work to do on the offensive end of the court. By the winter, she had improved enough to make the varsity team as an 8th grader, however. And she even started receiving interest from local colleges.
At the time, she was more of a defensive player, who could block shots and rebound. She started most games, and averaged nine points, nearly nine rebounds ,and seven blocks per game. The rest of her skillset was still a work in progress. When told she was a freshman, he recalled the first time he saw Kevin Garnett as a high schooler in Chicago: tall and long with great rebounding and passing skills. While her team had a 21—3 record, making it to the regional final game.
Furthermore, by the time she hit her sophomore year, she upped her scoring average to 22 points per game. Breanna was getting most of her points in the paint, and using her height to get her shots off. But again, Brian knew how critical it was for her to keep developing her skills. He pushed her to not just be a run to the block type of player. So throughout her junior and senior years of high school she developed her offensive game.
Working on playmaking, and getting very comfortable around the foul line and two-point ducks area — sort of a Tim Duncan playbook. Once she was a threat from all over the floor, she helped lead her team to the state AA public school title. Securing a 22—3 record for the year. By her senior year she was putting on a show, including her first in-game dunk against Baldwinsville.
As an electric, baseline-to-baseline playmaker, she led her team to a record, the Section 3 Class AA championship, and a spot in the Class AA state tournament semifinals. All the while, averaging It was official: Breanna Stewart had arrived. As a sophomore in high school, she visited the campus for the first time. As Breanna recalls, she saw Maya Moore playing that day. And she must have seen something she liked, because she soon committed.
While her decision was an easy one, the year to follow was not. And scoring a total of points in her first ten games — more than any other Connecticut Husky freshman. However, her output slowed, and her scoring average dropped below ten points for her last eighteen regular season games.
Meanwhile, the team lost four times in total, three of the loses from falling to Notre Dame. Add onto that, that Breanna was struggling with the practice aspect of her game. Head Coach Geno Auriemma needed players trying to do things his way. But Breanna was stubborn.
So they butted heads for a while. Eventually, she learned that as a player, she was always going to lose in the end. So she started delivering more, and consistently. Ultimately, she realized that Geno expected the absolute best out of her — it was the first time she had a coach like that. In March of her freshman year, she began early morning sessions with Chris Daily, Associate Head Coach, to concentrate on shooting and post moves.
She came back strong in the Big East tournament, with a total of 51 points, matching the number scored by Diana Taurasi in her tournament debut. Her strong performance continued in the NCAA tournament. She finally notched a W against Notre Dame. Scoring a career-high 29 points to go with four blocks. Leading the Huskies back to the national championship game with an win over the Fighting Irish.
Breanna went on to score points in the last five games, earning her the award of the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Cementing her spot as the first freshman to win the award since And her team took home the Championship title.
Breanna continued her stellar play her sophomore year, starting in every game. She led the team with And was second on the team with 8. As her confidence grew, she began demanding the ball more. Her made field goals earned her the third-highest single-season total in UConn history. By the end of her sophomore year, she was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, an honor she won the following two seasons as well.
Additionally, she was named AP Player of the Year. After going undefeated her first two seasons, during her junior year, the team lost to Stanford.
Which broke their winning streak in year three. Which brought a lot of pressure. Though, Breanna tackled the mental aspect of the intimidating season and delivered. She averaged Plus had a clutch Breanna earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight year in — Marking the fifth time a Husky was selected as the Conference Player of the Year multiple times.
In her final season at UConn, Breanna posted career highs in rebounds per game 8. Meanwhile she shot As she led UConn to yet another National Championship. Yes, you counted that right: Breanna Stewart won four National Championships in her college career. In the last 18 games of the year, she averaged less than 10 points per game.
Stewart rebounded in the Big East Tournament, leading the Huskies in points, rebounds and minutes over the course of three games. UConn went on to win the national championship, winning its six games by an average margin of just under 35 points. The tough coaching Stewart received from Auriemma and his assistants made her a better player in the long run, Brian said. Coming off their first championship season, the Huskies won all 31 of their regular season games, but Auriemma still tested his team during practices.
In one drill, players lined up to play defense against a practice player who drove to the hoop from the wing. Stewart was matched up against Ryan Probst, a former practice player. Probst beat her to the hoop for a layup. Then he did it again. And again. Probst estimated he beat Stewart times in a row as the entire team watched. After a few successful stops, Stewart mastered the drill.
The Huskies went in their first season in the American Athletic Conference. They won by more than 10 points the entire season and crushed rival Notre Dame by 21 points in the national championship game.
In the Final Four and the national championship games, Stewart led the Huskies in scoring to secure her second consecutive Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four award. At the start of her junior season, Stewart and the two-time defending champion Huskies were preseason favorites to win the title again.
But then came Stanford. Stewart scored 23 points, but the Huskies blew a point lead with seven minutes to go and lost in overtime, snapping their game winning streak. Auriemma responded to the loss with two-a-day practices. In the opening minutes of a game against Memphis, Stewart and Tuck were not playing well and were unhappy with their performance. Auriemma benched them for the remainder of the game.
Stewart recorded a tournament career-high 31 points, along with 12 rebounds and seven assists against Texas in the Sweet By her senior year, Stewart was nearly unstoppable. She had improved on her shooting to become lethal from the midrange. Finished her in second place on UConn's all-time scoring list with 2, career points Earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors in each of her last three years at UConn, marking the fifth time a Husky has been selected as the conference player of the year multiple times The only player in NCAA history to block at least shots and dish-out at least assists Earned and American Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, marking the 19th and 21st time a Husky has been so honored Finished her career as UConn's all-time leader in blocked shots at , surpassing the record held by Rebecca Lobo for over 20 years Concluded her career in fourth on UConn's all-time rebounding list with 1, career boards Established a new single-season school record with free throws made during her sophomore year Finished her career with double-digit scoring performances and 65 games in which she scored at least 20 points Scored points in her first 10 games to establish a new UConn record for most points scored by a player in her first 10 games Her points during her freshman year are the fourth-most ever scored by a UConn freshman and her 74 blocks are third all-time amongst Husky freshman.
Averaged team highs with Her blocked shots marked the third-highest single-season total in school history and her points mark the fifth-highest single-season total in UConn history One of four Huskies to dish-out at least assists as Stewart recorded a career-high helpers against only 60 turnovers As was usually the case, the North Syracuse, N. She also shot Nearly notched her first triple-double when she posted points, rebounds and blocked nine shots in only minutes of action at SMU on January Scored a season-high points and snared rebounds in the win at DePaul on December 2 and followed that up with 28 points, on shooting, to go along with rebounds in the win over Notre Dame on December Posted a double-double in 17 of the 37 games she played and scored at least 20 points in 20 games Scored 22 points and dished-out a career-high 10 assists in her homecoming game at Colgate on December 9.
She was from the floor and also recorded four steals for the home folks. Her rebounds marked the fourth-highest total in school history for a UConn junior One of five Huskies to dish-out at least assists and was third on the team with helpers, including a career-high eight in only 21 minutes of action against Tulsa on January Buried a team-high free throws on a team-best attempts from the charity stripe Elevated nearly every aspect of her game during UConn's nine-game run through the postseason, averaging
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