Once the game started, affection gave way to near perfection by the Huskies.
UConn was flawless at both ends of the floor against Temple, romping the Owls 90-36 on Tuesday night. It was the top-seeded Huskies' 74th win in a row, the longest streak in NCAA Division I women's history, and one of the most impressive.
It may also have been one of the least enjoyable for Auriemma since it came against a team coached by second-year Owls coach Tonya Cardoza, one of his assistants for 14 years.
But Cardoza and the eighth-seeded Owls (25-9) never had a chance.
Maya Moore hit 3-pointers on the Huskies' first two possession, they ran off 20 points in a row in six minutes after Temple closed within 13-5 and finished the half on a 20-1 burst.
Qweida Wallace led the Owls with 12 points, but on 4-for-17 shooting.
Kelly Faris added 13, Tina Charles had 12 and Tiffany Greene 11 for the Huskies, who led 55-12 at the intermission. And that was after the Owls got a 6-2 run.
While Connecticut shot almost 78 percent in the half, the Owls treated the ball like a hot potato in the face of the Huskies' unrelenting defense, making just 5 of 32 shots.
Their 12 points tied for the eighth-lowest total in tournament history, and followed a second half against Southern University in the opening round in which the Huskies limited the Jaguars to a record low-tying 10 points. Southern missed 26 of its 30 shots in that half.
More impressively, Connecticut played much of both halves with reserves.
Cardoza and Auriemma shared an embrace before the game, and again after player introductions, but the Huskies wasted no time showing the Owls any hopes they had were lost.