Breanna Stewart, UConn on brink of third title in a row
TAMPA — Breanna Stewart refuses to be contained, it seems. In the paint, on the perimeter, in a news conference, no matter.
And with a third national championship in three seasons within her grasp on Tuesday, the 6-4 Connecticut forward and Associated Press player of the year might eventually be uncontainable even by the current definition of excellence at a program awash in it.
Whether she is the dominant "Stewie" who has become the versatile inside-outside threat or what her teammates jokingly have referred to as "goofy Stewie," since she began pelting them with Nerf guns as a freshman, she is as ever-present as the mural bearing her likeness outside Amalie Arena, where UConn will meet Notre Dame in the women's national final.
After accepting and hefting the AP trophy for the second consecutive season Saturday, the junior began checklisting her appreciation for coaches and teammates who hovered around the stage.
With all of her Huskies thoroughly acknowledged, she turned to her left, looked through a doorway not visible to the gathered crowd and remarked about a chat she has just enjoyed with "Coach Sem."
As in Sue Semrau of Florida State, the as-yet-unannounced AP women's coach of the year and the second half of the news conference.
Quickly realizing her gaffe — one of the few in a season in which she has averaged 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds and shot 54% from the field for the 37-1 two-time defending national champs — Stewart covered her mouth and laughed. So did her teammates, used to the wryly comedic and fallible facet on display off the court.
Stewart's on-court presence is decidedly more clinical, although former UConn player Rebecca Lobo incurred the ire of Huskies fans last year when she referred to the forward as "goofy-looking" during a television broadcast.
"She is a difficult matchup because of her size and her ability to play on the perimeter and on the inside," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "So we've got a couple of ideas that we're going to try.
"I don't think anybody's been very successful with her this year. She didn't have a great game against us last time, but I would say that was more her than our defense."
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Stewart was well-credentialed entering Connecticut as a consensus national player of the year out of Cicero-North Syracuse High School in New York and telegraphed an ability to thrive in the pressure situations the Huskies frequent as an under-aged overachiever, coach Geno Auriemma said.
"When you're recruiting somebody, you really try to distinguish why are they dominant," he said. "Are they dominant because physically they're just so much better than everybody else? And that was the case with Stewie, obviously. She's in eighth, ninth grade, and she's just dominant in her age group.
"One of the things that I thought was telling was that in all the USA Basketball experience that she's had — I think she's won more gold medals than anyone else in the history of USA Basketball by this age — is that she always played up. She always played above her age group. So she's always the youngest player playing with older kids. And yet she was always on the all-tournament team or MVP or led the team in scoring or led the team in rebounding."
On the brink of tying Huskies legend Diana Taurasi with a third consecutive national championship, Stewart has another year of eligibility and therefore more opportunity for accomplishment remaining, which inevitably commences discussions of legacy.
"Stewie kind of knew she had it, and then all she needed was a stage to prove it," Auriemma said. "And she's done it, man. I've coached some great ones. I can name them, but I don't need to. And she's as good as anybody I've ever coached when the big moments come."
An hour or so after the latest of those moments, after weathering a physical onslaught from Maryland in an 81-58 semifinals win — she led all scorers with 25 points (including a pair of three-pointers), had eight rebounds, enduring waves of picks and screens in playing all but one minute — the goliath had seamlessly recessed back into the goof during post-game media obligations, parsing reporters' questions as fodder for quippy answers and seemingly generally unfazed by the upcoming title-game rematch against Notre Dame. Then she was asked her reaction to actor Tom Cruise watching her game from a suite high above.
"Ah man! Where was he?" she responded. "Oh my gosh. Didn't even get to meet him."
Even her enthusiasm, uncontainable.
Follow Brant James on Twitter @brantjames.