The WNBA turns 30 this season, and what better way to ring in the new decade than bringing in college basketball’s all-time winningest coach?
UConn women’s basketball‘s Geno Auriemma will be on the call for ESPN for the Tuesday, July 7, game between the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (8 p.m.). Joining the Huskies’ Hall of Fame coach on the sideline will be Good Morning America co-anchor and sportscaster Robin Roberts. Roberts was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 following her star collegiate career at Southeastern Louisiana University and her longtime success covering women’s basketball.
Both Auriemma and Roberts previously called WNBA games during the league’s inaugural seasons, including its debut year in 1997. Most notably, Auriemma called former Husky great Diana Taurasi’s second-career WNBA game on May 22, 2004, when the Phoenix Mercury played the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Taurasi led with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in the Mercury’s 65-58 win.
This time, in Brooklyn, Auriemma will call three of his most recent star alumnae: Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd.
Bueckers currently leads the Wings with 18.7 points and 6.0 assists per game, while Fudd leads with 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Stewart, in her 10th season in the WNBA, leads New York with 19.7 points, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Tuesday’s game will be the Wings and Liberty’s second meeting of the season. Dallas took the first meeting, winning 91-76 thanks to 24 points and six made 3-pointers from Fudd on May 24 in Brooklyn.
The two teams will close out their regular-season series on July 16 (9 p.m. on Prime) in Dallas.