'It changed my life': Revisiting UConn's 1995 national championship in Minneapolis
Apr. 1—MINNEAPOLIS — That night in 1995 when 6-foot-4 center Rebecca Lobo went careening down the court at the Target Center in Minneapolis in wonder and triumph, celebrating the first national championship for the University of Connecticut's women's basketball team, she had no idea what life would bring her.
Lobo had no thoughts that someday she'd have her own Barbie Doll or earn induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame or launch a career as a broadcaster at ESPN or marry a guy, Steve Rushin, who grew up in Bloomington, Minn., and eventually would teach her all the nuances of the 1979 Twins.
That moment, following UConn's 70-64 victory over Tennessee, was simply bedlam.
"That was a life-changing weekend for me," Lobo said early Thursday morning from the Target Center, where UConn will compete in its 14th straight Final Four beginning Friday against Stanford (9:30 p.m., ESPN), hoping to contend for a 12th national championship 27 years after the first.
"It changed my life. If we didn't win that game, my life is completely different. That's just the reality of it," she said. "That changed my life in so many ways."
What would Lobo have done otherwise?
"Not this," Lobo said. "Most likely not this. I wouldn't be working for ESPN. That career path would have been very different. Who knows. Who knows. I do feel pretty certain that my life wouldn't be what it became."
The 1995 Final Four was held on April 1 and 2; the teams played the semifinals and final on back-to-back days then, meaning UConn defeated Stanford and Tennessee in succession.
In the final, UConn got into foul trouble early, trailing the Lady Vols by six at halftime, but Lobo responded by scoring 11 of her 17 points in the second half to earn Most Valuable Player honors. The second half featured an iconic steal by Jen Rizzotti and two free throws by Carla Berube for the final margin, as the Huskies completed their season a sparkling 35-0.
"Every memory that I have about that game is burned into my mind," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said this week in anticipation of the return to downtown Minneapolis. "I can probably remember every single possession. I can remember every timeout. Halftime. What we did, where we stayed, everything, because everything was just so big."
"We were riding that undefeated season. We were getting unprecedented attention that had never been bestowed on a women's basketball program," he said. "So we were dealing with a lot and the excitement was unbelievable. We were playing a storied program with an all-time Hall of Fame coach in Pat Summitt. All the elements were right there."
Lobo remembers being on the bench in the first half in foul trouble along with Rizzotti and Kara Wolters while Berube and Jamelle Elliott held things down on the court.
At halftime, Lobo said, Auriemma wrote the score on the board and circled it, pointing out that although the Huskies hadn't played well, they were still only down six.
Auriemma recalls something else about that night.
"One thing that will be different (this week), my son (Michael) won't get lost after the game and make everybody have to go look for him," Auriemma said with a laugh. "He's 32 now, 33, so I think I don't have to worry about that. Let me concentrate on the game."
Former UConn sports information director Barb Kowal, also in Minneapolis this weekend as a media specialist, especially remembers the days that followed that first national championship, including the bus ride from the airport back to campus and Lobo's subsequent appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
Kowal said Thursday morning that even describing the scene at Bradley International Airport when the team returned gives her a chill.
"We looked out and there were thousands of people pressed against the chain-link fence with signs welcoming us back. The bus was on the tarmac waiting for us and Geno said, 'No, let's go meet the fans.' Those fans were so excited. They were high-fiving and just getting to see the players up close and in person."
"We got on the bus and we make the drive from Bradley back to Storrs and I'll never forget this; I think this is when I was the most emotional," she said. "The streets were lined with people. People were hanging over the overpasses with sheets, like, 'Welcome home, champs,' and 'We love you, UConn,' 'Rebecca for president.' It was the most amazing thing."
That was just the start of it. It was the first of what is now an unprecedented 11 national titles for UConn. It was the beginning of UConn's storied rivalry with Tennessee.
Lobo and Auriemma would go on to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. Elliott is an assistant coach with Auriemma. Berube is the head coach at Princeton. Rizzotti has coached in the NCAA tournament with Hartford, was the assistant coach for the 2020 Olympic women's basketball team and is now the president of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.
"That was such a special group of people, a wonderful team culture and just remarkable individuals that have gone on to do amazing things," Kowal said.
Now, things have come full circle. It is UConn-Stanford on Friday in Minneapolis for a bid in the national championship game against either South Carolina or Louisville. The Huskies are 29-5 and have overcome adversity this season in the form of illness and injuries.
Might there be some magic left in Minneapolis?
"I hate when people say something is hard to describe," Lobo said. "Like when my kids say, 'You can't describe it,' I'm like, 'Yes, you can, just find the words.' But I'm having one of those moments now. It was just pure joy of 'We did this, we did this together and there's not the next thing, this is it and we did it.' ... A lifetime ago."
"The Target Center will always have a special place in our hearts here in Connecticut," Auriemma said. "... We're in the same locker room, I think, we were in back then and we're playing the same team we played back then. It's funny how life comes around, right?"
