STORRS, Conn. – Geno Auriemma’s coaching career at UConn has already been marked by unparalleled achievements. Eleven national titles. Twenty-three Final Four berths, 15 of them in the last 16 years. Separate win streaks of 98 and 111 games.

And on Wednesday, in front of more than 60 former players and a sold-out home crowd at the Gampel Pavilion, Auriemma climbed another mountaintop when his Huskies defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 to make him the winningest coach in NCAA history.

Auriemma broke the tie he held since Friday with legendary Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired in April. His 1,217 wins are the most in NCAA history, women’s or men’s, for any division. The record breaker was his 329th victory of at least 40 points; he has more than twice as many 40-point wins as total losses in his career (162).

“This is another special milestone for Geno Auriemma in a career full of these things,” VanDerveer said in a statement about Auriemma breaking her record. “The level of success he has maintained over the past four decades at UConn will never be matched. But his tremendous legacy extends far beyond any number of victories. It lives on in the lives of the countless young women he met throughout his career. career has had a positive impact.”

The game also celebrated Auriemma and former head coach Chris Dailey’s 40th season in Storrs. Red T-shirts and lighting adorned Gampel for the duo’s ruby ​​anniversary. A fan festival was held near the arena with a goat farm. Three different Auriemma and Dailey themed ice cream specials were sold at the school’s Dairy Bar. Program legends Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore returned to their old stomping grounds to pay tribute to the coaching couple.

The festivities were a celebration not only of Auriemma and Dailey’s longevity, but also of their unparalleled excellence across generations. Even when the program failed to produce national championships, UConn was simply dominant: Auriemma’s .882 winning percentage is an NCAA record. Half of his 162 losses came before his first championship in 1995.

It’s surreal for Auriemma, who turned 70 in March, that he’s still coaching. That is also what he managed to achieve in Storrs. When he took the job in 1985, he thought he would stay at UConn for four years. Try four, ten times. And that makes Wednesday even more special: Unlike VanDerveer and former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski — the only other coaches to reach the 1,200-win mark — Auriemma has spent his entire head coaching career at one school.

“In the beginning, we kind of just had our vision and each other to say, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’” Dailey said Tuesday. “And we were able to convince enough people to believe that same dream. And in the end, forty years later, much more has happened than we ever imagined.”

The past four years have been particularly tough for Auriemma. The COVID-19 pandemic took its toll, as did the seemingly constant stream of injuries in the program. During the 2022-2023 season, he also faced health issues and mourned the death of his mother. Auriemma felt the urge to step away several times in recent seasons, but never went through with it.

“Whatever the appeal,” he said Tuesday, “it’s still there.”

He will be the ‘happiest man in the world’ when he decides to retire. But for now, he’s right where he belongs.

“As long as I’m here and I walk through this building and I see the players here and I see the people who work in my little world and how we all motivate each other,” Auriemma said, “there’s no other place I’d like to be.”

ESPN Research contributed to this report.