Connecticut star Katie Lou Samuelson ready to reverse the Huskies' recent Final Four heartbreak

TAMPA, Fla. — Before Connecticut traveled south for the Final Four and again once the Huskies arrived here to begin preparations for Friday's national semifinal against Notre Dame, senior guard Katie Lou Samuelson spoke to her teammates about how it feels to win a national championship.

Samuelson was a freshman for the program's last championship, the 39-0 juggernaut paced by forward Breanna Stewart that won its six NCAA tournament games by a combined 239 points. She finished fourth on the team in scoring, a secondary option on an unfairly talented roster, rarely asked to shoulder the load. Three seasons later, Samuelson and fellow senior Napheesa Collier are the only players left aware of both what it takes to win a title and, in a literal sense, how it feels — what it's like to be showered in confetti on the first Sunday night in April.

"No one really does understand how great it feels," said Samuelson. "We wanted to let them know that we can do this."

The rest of the roster knows only heartbreak. Two years ago, the Huskies' season ended in an overtime loss to Mississippi State in the semifinals. Last season ended in an overtime loss to Notre Dame in the semifinals. Another loss in this Final Four would spell the program's longest stretch without a championship since missing four in a row from 2005-08.

On an individual level, Samuelson's place in program history is secure. She's a three-time All-America selection, twice earning first-team honors. She's of UConn's top career scorers. Her teams have lost a combined four games, two coming this season to leave the Huskies a surprising No. 2 seed in the Albany Region. Even still, the pressure is on Samuelson to help deliver another national championship, the program's 12th.

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It's been her most trying season. In the Huskies' home finale on Mar. 2, Samuelson collided with a Houston defender in chase of a loose ball and suffered bruising and back spasms. While UConn cruised to another American Athletic Conference tournament championship, Samuelson was rehabbing; her absence forced the Huskies to rally around Collier, an All-America forward, and it took the team a "little bit of time to kind of get our bearings," coach Geno Auriemma said.

"It’s definitely all mental," Samuelson said of her injury. "It’s all believing in yourself and understanding that at this point of the season everyone is dealing with stuff that you don’t know about it."

The pain lingered into the tournament. Samuelson scored 11 points in 22 minutes of play in the first round against Towson, a 110-61 win. She played all 40 minutes in ensuing games against Buffalo and UCLA but shot a combined 6 of 23 from the field, scoring just 6 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the Sweet Sixteen win against the Bruins.

Then came her return to form: Samuelson scored 29 points in the Elite Eight victory against Louisville, which topped UConn during the regular season, to carry the Huskies to a 7-point win and back into the Final Four for the 12th year in a row.

"That shows me that she has heart," said freshman guard Christyn Williams. "She doesn’t want to let us down. So for her to fight through her injury and persevere through that, it’s something we really needed. That just how great of a teammate she is."

When healthy — and Samuelson says she's at full strength heading into Friday night — few players create a more disheartening matchup nightmare. At 6-foot-3, Samuelson has the length to see the entire floor, Williams said. She has the height to simply shoot over defenders, the athleticism to blow past forwards on the perimeter and the size to bully smaller guards on the post.

"That is, like, almost unstoppable," Williams said.

Samuelson is "special in that sense," said junior guard Crystal Dangerfield, in how the wide majority of players her size in the women's game play close to the basket. In comparison, Samuelson ranks second in program history in made three-pointers and last season led the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage.

"I don’t necessarily believe that we’ve seen another player like Katie," Notre Dame guard Abby Prohaska said, then backtracked slightly: "I mean, there’s players everywhere that are just as good as her, so … I don’t know, I feel like we’re ready and prepared for this."

So is Samuelson. The championship as a freshman "was so easy with that team," said Collier. Losing to Mississippi State two seasons ago was heartbreaking. Last April's loss to Notre Dame was devastating. This year's team lost twice during the regular season for the time since 2013. The back injury was yet another hurdle. Now feeling healthy, with her shooting stroke recovered, Samuelson is two wins away from ending her college career in the same way it began: with bookend national championships.

"There’s no guarantee that you’re going to be playing in that second game," she said, "and our team, more than any other team in the country, knows that. So we’ve got to put everything on the line. No matter what, we’re not saving anything else for another game."