Geno Auriemma's 12 biggest coaching wins at UConn - ESPN

It says everything about UConn's Geno Auriemma that a list of his greatest victories could include only national championship games. He has won 11 NCAA titles, more than any other Division I women's or men's basketball coach.

On Wednesday, Auriemma could move atop the list of most victories, period. With a win over Fairleigh Dickinson at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, Auriemma will pass retired Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer with his 1,217th victory. VanDerveer passed Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski (1,202 wins) in January.

When Auriemma took over the Huskies in 1985, the program had only one winning season — at 16-14 — in its 11-year history. The NCAA tournament had been around for only four years for the women. The sport had very little visibility.

It took Auriemma six years to reach his first Final Four, in 1991, and 10 years to win his first championship, in 1995. Now in his 40th season in Storrs, Auriemma's career mark is 1,216-162. His Huskies have made the Final Four 23 times and had six perfect seasons.

His teams have been part of the biggest rivalries in women's basketball in the past 30 years, first with Tennessee, then Notre Dame and now South Carolina. Auriemma has coached Team USA to two Olympic gold medals. His former players have led the way in the Olympics and the WNBA. Current Huskies star Paige Bueckers is projected to be the league's No. 1 pick in April.

Yes, a list of the best victories of Auriemma's UConn career could consist of just NCAA title games. But other wins along the way, some of them breakthrough moments for the program, also have had special meaning. Here are the 12 biggest.

UConn's Geno Auriemma earns the 1,217th win of his career, passing Tara VanDerveer for the most