Geno Auriemma isn’t interested in Breanna Stewart’s rocky Liberty season

This past WNBA season may have been one of Breanna Stewart’s most difficult campaigns yet between her injuries, shooting decline and the Liberty’s overall struggles.

But UConn coach Geno Auriemma isn’t worried about his former Husky star one bit.

“When Stewie plays in a big game, I expect her to play great and that hasn’t changed one bit,” Auriemma said Tuesday at Big East Media Day. “And I hope they get a really good coach, and I hope they put a good team around her because I think she’s one of the great things about this city, for sure.”

Last season presented challenges for everyone within the Liberty organization.

Although the team returned to its core, the absences of Betneja Laney Hamilton (offseason knee surgery) and Kayla Thornton (expansion draft) loomed large.

The Liberty had a franchise record of 9-0 at the start of their title defense, but injuries clouded their momentum and they were eventually bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

Stewart, from an individual standpoint, had a poor season by her standards as well.

She led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game, but that was her lowest scoring average since her rookie campaign in 2016.

She also shot a career-low 24.1 percent from deep — down five percent from 2024 — and attempted the fewest 3-pointers per game thus far.

“She had to make the jump shot from time to time. That sucker missed more jump shots this year than I’ve seen her miss in the last seven years,” Auriemma said. “And sometimes it does. Sometimes you have a baseball player who hits .300 every year in his career, and then he gets two months in and hits .210, and you wonder, “What the hell happened?” It happens. So it’s just part of the game, man.

Despite the slump, Stewart was the Liberty’s most consistent and influential player. She ranked second in rebounds (6.5 per game) and third in assists (3.5).

Stewart has handed the freedom over and over again, including in the playoffs.

In the winner-takes-all Game 3 against Phoenix, Stewart scored a team-high 30 points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded two steals and two blocks, all while playing with a bum knee. But unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as Liberty were ousted earlier than expected.

Auriemma knows better than anyone how difficult it is to win back-to-back titles. He said some of Liberty’s shortcomings were beyond their control.

“That’s the thing about people who are so focused on repetition, you have the same core, so repetition should be easy. It’s not,” Auriemma said. “It’s not how many things have to get right. So maybe if this roster had stayed injury-free the whole time, maybe it would have happened. But if Minnesota had stayed injury-free, maybe no one would have beaten them. So I think I’ve been able to get through every year where you need to put yourself in the mix where you have a chance and as long as you’re in the final four in the WNBA, you’ve put yourself where you have a chance. And that’s all anyone can expect.” truly.”

Auriemma praised Stewart’s heroism in the playoffs, despite injuring her right knee in the first game.

“Last year, I was shocked at how bad Stewie played in (the 2024 WNBA Finals) … because that’s the first time in her career that I’ve ever seen her have a bad game in a game that big,” Auriemma said. “So this year, even though she got hurt and then came back in (the first round)…. They weren’t sure she was going to play… and then she had like 30 or whatever. That’s really who she is. But anticipating that every year, it’s still about the quality of talent, the amount of talent on the floor.”