There are few players in UConn Women's Basketball that are as fun loving and a joy to cover as Stefanie Dolson was. It turns out she was a heck of a center. Perhaps the best passing center UConn Women's Basketball has ever had...Of course it didn't hurt to have Breanna Stewart to find her last two years in a Husky Uniform. Ad in Kia Stokes for a few of those seasons and they created as good a group of shot blockers as the program has ever had...Out of Minisink Valley HS near Port Jervis, NY, Stef a McDonald's All American after a career of 1,951 points and 1,607 boards..and her next stop was Storrs, CT.
Like her fellow freshman teammate Bria Hartley, Stefanie was basically thrown to the wolves in the 2010-11 season. And like her predecessor Tina Charles, donned the number 31. Maya Moore was the soul returning All American from back to back undefeated National Championships...Tiffany Hayes was emerging as more of a team leader...Kelly Faris had the same fight as Moore, but as a guard....Then it was a group of youth and role players to emerge and help keep the Huskies rolling. I remember Stef's first big game against Baylor and 6-9 Sophomore Center Brittany Griner. The 6-5 Freshman jumped center and looked scared to death at game's start....Just 1 for 6 and 8 rebounds...But UConn won in Hartford for win #80..Dolson would have a great two game stretch as the streak grew to 90. 10/15, 7/7ft and 27 points in wins over LSU and USF...Of course the streak ended at 90 with a loss to Stanford, but the young Huskies kept battling with Moore and continued it's winning ways in the Big East...Dolson a mid season 15/19 with 34 points and 16 boards in wins over Louisville, North Carolina and Pittsburgh...She scored 21 on 10/13 shooting against DePaul and was 8/10 for another 21 at Providence as the Huskies took the regular season Big East Crown...And while Maya Moore was Player of the Year and fellow freshman Bria Hartley was Freshman of the Year, Dolson easily could have been the Big East Tournament MVP..24p-8r against Georgetown and in the Final against Notre Dame, 24p-9r as she was named to the All Tourney Team...Stef had a double double in the NCAA Round Two win over Purdue and a 6/9 12 point, 6 rebound effort against Duke to send the Huskies to a 4th straight Final Four....But in Indy, Notre Dame got the better of the Huskies as Dolson battled Becca Brezcewski in the loss that ended UConn's at 36-2.. Dolson's 10.2ppg, 6.1 rpg, 62% FG, 82% FT and 46 blocks earning her ALl Rookie Team Honors in the Big East...
Season Two would be a season of growth for Dolson and the Huskies. Moore onto the WNBA and Tiffany Hayes and Caroline Doty now the leaders...But with Faris, Hartley, Dolson and a pair of talented freshman in Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis and long forward Kia Stokes, the Huskies would be another Final Four Team....Dolson becoming more consistent, but still battling some demons...10p-9r against Kelsey Bone and Texas A&M, 22 in a win over Fairfield, a 22p-18r performance at USF and 16 against Rutgers some of the key games....But as the season drew to a close, Dolson was drawing the ire of Geno Auriemma as he was looking for more consistency. In the road finale at Marquette, Dolson played just 6 minutes in a UConn win, but Stef felt it like she hit rock bottom. She needed guidance and got it from a former Husky and at the time my broadcast partner, Kara Wolters...On a day away, there was a lot of soul searching that began to pay dividends quickly. It was all about playing hard all the time. In the regular season finale despite a loss to Notre Dame yet again, Dolson had 18 points and 7 boards...And a rivalry within the rivalry was brewing with Irish Sophomore Natalie Achonwa...The Huskies would revenge losses to St John's and the Irish in the Big East Tournament and get Geno Auriemma career win #800..Suddenly the Huskies found themselves as a One Seed again in the NCAA's in the Kingston, RI Regional....Dolson 10p-5r in the Sweet 16 win over Penn St and 13p-8r to compliment Tiffany Hayes weekend, make the All Regional Tournament Team and the Huskies were off to another Final Four in Denver and yes, Notre Dame waited yet again. Dolson battled foul trouble and was still 10/16 with her best game of the season. 20p-9 rebounds...but the Irish were better in OT and the Huskies again frustrated. Stef 10.4ppg, 6 rpg, 59% FG, 81 % FT and 57 blocks to lead the team..
The momentum of a strong finish for Dolson continued into the off season conditioning...A slimmer, more mobile Stef was ready for the Huskies last year in the Big East....And a freshman trio arrived that would change the face of program. You know them as Stewie, Tuck and Mo Jeff.....As the season evolved, it was evident the Dolson-Stewart combo would be special as the offense would run thru the high post as Stef was starting to show her passing ability...At Texas A&M, Dolson 11/15 with 24 points, 14p-8r at Maryland, 20p-5r at Marquette, 16p-9r against Louisville and 25p-7r against Syracuse...This season, UConn would deal with three gut wrenching losses to rival Notre Dame and a home loss to top ranked Baylor in February where Dolson's sidekick Stewart played just 7 minutes...As the Big East Tournament arrived, Stewart started to get rolling..and in the Final against the Irish, the duo erased a 10 point, halftime deficit with a chance to win at the end. As Dolson had 18 points and 14 rebounds. But a turnover led to a ND hoop with a second left and the Huskies were left shaking heads once again....Still a top seed for the NCAA's but most thought the title went thru defending Champion Baylor...
With each NCAA game, Dolson consistent and Stewart, along with Faris, Mosqueda Lewis and Morgan Tuck, the were starting to gain more confidence...And suddenly with Baylor losing to Louisville in the Sweet 16, most thought the Champ would be Notre Dame....or UConn..Both winning their regionals and once again, a Final Four meeting in New Orleans. Dolson a solid 9p-7r-5b effort, but Stewart's 29, 16 from Mosqueda-Lewis and 15 from Hartley sent the Irish and Skylar Diggins packing....And their would be no stopping the Huskies in the Finals against Louisville as Dolson scored 12 with 6 boards and 5 assists..One of 5 double figure scorers to clinch National Championship #8..With Dolson's rise, averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds and 58 blocks earned All Big East First Team, WBCA and USWBA First Team All American Honors and 2nd Team AP All American in a rock solid junior year....
With Faris the lone graduate from the 2013 Championship Team and Moriah Jefferson establishing herself as a nice backcourt compliment to Bria Hartley, the 2013-14 Huskies would be the preseason #1 and wouldn't disappoint. And it was becoming evident the Doson-Stewart duo would continue to dominate..Stef 7/7 with 16 points in the opener against Hartford. 10p-12r-5b against Maryland while Stewart scored 26...15p-5b at Penn State...Then on November 20th, Dolson did something only one other Husky, Laura Lishness, had done....get a Triple Double...against Oregon at the XL Center, Dolson with a 26p-14r-11a night in a rout of the Ducks..23p-10r v BU, 15p-13r against Ohio State, a 14p-9r-6a effort at Duke where Stef made three !! 25p-12r at UCF, 10p-7r at Baylor, 16p-10r-4a at Rutgers and 24p-9r on 8 of 8 shooting at Houston...The Huskies rolled to the first AAC Regular Season and Tournament Titles...Dolson becoming the second true post player in UConn history to have back to back 100 assist seasons (Rebecca Lobo) to go along with 93 blocks...on a team that set a team record with 324 as Dolson, Stewart and Stokes did most of the damage....at 31-0 heading into the postseason, the arch rival from South Bend, now an ACC school was mirroring the Huskies going undefeated into the NCAA's...
Dolson playing a big role at the Regional in Lincoln, Nebraska...9p-13r-4b as BYU offered a solid challenge...then a 14p-10r-career high 8 block effort against Texas A&M that sent UConn to Nashville and the Final Four...Dolson 10p-7r in a balanced win over Stanford to set up a battle of the unbeatens for a Natty...Notre Dame awaited...without Natalie Achonwa, who tore her ACL in the Elite 8 win over Baylor....The Irish never had a chance...As the Dolson-Stewart duo dominated the post. Stewie with 21-9...Dolson saving her best game for last as a Husky....17 points, a career high 16 boards, 7 assists and 3 blocks as the Huskies rolled to title 9 in Nashville....Stef's 12.5p, 9.3 boards and 93 blocks enough to join Bria Hartley and Stewart as first team All Americans....As Dolson's #31 and Hartley's #14 joined the Huskies of honor on Sr Day...In addition to being named AAC Defensive Player of the Year....
Dolson finishing with 1,797 points (16th) and 1,101 rebounds...One of 6 in the 1000-1000 club...154 games (T3), a .588 FG % (6th) and 254 blocks (6th) and a pair of National Championships....After the win over Notre Dame in which the Huskies finished 40-0, Geno Auriemma was very emotional about the win and the road both Stef and Bria took as they never had a chance to what and learn...In the end, the type of 4 year adventure of ups and downs most UConn players go thru in College.
On draft day, Dolson was picked 6th overall by Washington in the WNBA Draft...and Hartley by trade joined her in DC...Stef played for Mike Thibault from 2014-17...Then was traded to Chicago in a deal that sent Elena Della Donne to Washington. A Two Time WNBA All Star, Dolson has averaged 10 points and 5 boards a game. Her best season her first in Chicago, averaging 14.5 points a game....In 2016, Dolson came out publicly as a part of the LGBT community. A beautiful smile, a wonderfully happy personality and one of the funniest players to ever come into Storrs. She left a Two Time All American and a UConn Legend....Stefanie Dolson