Geno Auriemma is now alone at the top.

Auriemma picked up his 1,217th career win Wednesday night when No. 2 UConn defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 at Gampel Pavilion. That officially broke the tie with longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and made Auriemma the winningest head coach in the history of men’s and women’s Division I college basketball.

Naturally, UConn pulled out all the stops for Auriemma during his historic evening. Many former players and stars were present and the university held a big ceremony for him after the game.

They even brought out a live goat for, well, the GOAT

Auriemma first took over at UConn in 1985, and he quickly turned the program into a women’s basketball powerhouse. He reached the Final Four 23 times and won 11 national championships. They went on a run that saw them reach the Final Four an impressive fourteen straight times, and between 2013 and 2016, they won four consecutive national titles. Auriemma was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Auriemma officially earned his 1,200th career victory last season, making him one of only three coaches in history to reach that milestone. VanDerveer retired after last season as the winningest coach in the history of the sport. Longtime Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski retired with 1,202 career wins, making him the winningest Division I men’s coach in history.

Only five other women’s basketball coaches in history have won more than 1,000 games. DePaul coach Doug Bruno is the closest active coach to Auriemma on the all-time list, but he only has 786 wins to his name. Arkansas coach John Calipari is the active coach on the men’s side closest to Auriemma’s record, although Calipari is more than 400 wins behind him.

The Huskies had no problem with Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night. They held the Knights to just eight points in both the second and third quarters en route to the 44-point win. Sarah Strong led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Paige Bueckers finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Azzi Fudd returns for UConn after a knee injury

Wednesday also marked the return of star Azzi Fudd, who went down with a knee injury over a year ago. Fudd tore her right cruciate ligament and meniscus during training last November, knocking her out of all but two matches last season. She has been recovering since then.

Fudd, a former No. 1 overall recruit from the class of 2021, has averaged 13.1 points and 2.4 rebounds during her time at UConn. She has dealt with several injuries during her career and played just fifteen games in the 2022-2023 season. Fudd has played just 42 total games in college, and she is now a redshirt junior.

While it is unclear what Fudd will do as she has another season of eligibility remaining, she is expected to be a lottery pick if she were to sign with the Huskies after this season for the 2025 WNBA Draft. Van Bueckers, who was able to return for one season himself last season, he is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in this summer’s draft.

Fudd came off the bench in the win and finished with four points and a rebound while shooting 1-of-4 from the field.

The Huskies, now 4-0, will take on Oregon State next Monday. They will also face No. 25 Louisville, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 8 Iowa State and No. 3 USC in the coming month ahead of Big East play, which should provide a big stretch of basketball before the Huskies trying to achieve a victory. fifth straight regular season and conference tournament title.

If they can make it through that stretch relatively unscathed, with Bueckers and Fudd back on the field together, Auriemma will be in a prime position to add to his already legendary resume next spring.