Mohegan — It was a season in which UConn's players constantly passed the baton to one another.

Twenty-nine points for Katie Lou Samuelson one night. Thirty-nine points for Napheesa Collier the next.

Samuelson became the seventh-fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 points in just her 66th game. Samuelson, Collier and Gabby Williams were each named first team American Athletic Conference all-stars and as semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy, which goes to the national player of the year.

It was fitting then, perhaps, that the trend continued Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Samuelson and Collier, both sophomores, were named the AAC's Co-Players of the Year on what was the opening day of the league tournament. UConn coach Geno Auriemma was named Co-Coach of the Year along with Temple coach and former UConn assistant Tonya Cardoza.

“I would've been disappointed if they only picked one of the two,” Auriemma said of the players. “If they had determined that one's more valuable than the other, I would have said, 'Really? Based on what?' I don't know how you could be able to single anybody out. How do you identify one person?”

It is the first time that UConn teammates have been named co-players of the year.

The Huskies, 29-0 and still accruing wins as part of their NCAA record total of 104 straight victories, begin play postseason play in the AAC tournament quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 9 Tulsa (9-20).

Samuelson leads UConn and the conference in scoring with 20.7 points per game. Her 93 3-point field goals leads the AAC and ranks seventh nationally. Collier is averaging 20.4 points per game and leads the Huskies in rebounds (9.0 per game) and blocks (56). Her field goal percentage of .686 is first in the league and second in the nation.

Samuelson said the dual award makes sense, although she would have been pleased if Collier took the honor outright. She said the classmates hit it off right away as freshmen a season ago because they're both “weird.”

“When we get comfortable, we say things and laugh at things that no one else thinks is funny,” Samuelson said.

This year, the duo was part of a team tasked with continuing UConn's tradition of excellence — the Huskies have already won an unprecedented four straight NCAA titles — without their top three players from a year ago in Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. Stewart, the AAC Player of the Year the last three seasons, Jefferson and Tuck were the top three picks last year in the WNBA Draft.

“We wouldn't be in this situation if we had to rely on one person to do it all,” Samuelson said.

“It's awesome,” Collier said. “… Like coach says, if you think about the team first, the personal accolades are going to come. We're doing things to get the open person the shot, not for our own personal statistics.”

Auriemma couldn't have been more thrilled to share the coaching honor with Cardoza, whom he embraced several times on the awards podium.

Cardoza was an assistant under Auriemma at UConn for 14 seasons from 1995-2008, including the first five national championships in program history. Cardoza is in her ninth season at Temple, which was 23-6 this season and owns the Owls' first national ranking since 2006.

Auriemma joked that Cardoza said more words in her acceptance speech than all the years she coached at UConn.

“It took her awhile to feel comfortable,” Auriemma said. “She's grown up as a person. She's become a professional. … I'm really, really thrilled that both of them (Cardoza and fellow former assistant Jamelle Elliott, the head coach at Cincinnati) put themselves in position this year for something like this to happen.”

It is Auriemma's fourth straight coach of the year honor and 14th in all in 32 seasons. He has led the Huskies to a record-setting 11 national championships and the team is unbeaten in the four-year history of the AAC. A member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, he has a career record of 984-134 and has coached the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team to the last two gold medals.

“Don't think I didn't notice the ovation I got from my players wasn't as good as the one her guys gave Tonya,” Auriemma joked from the podium.

“… What we've done this season has been a big surprise to a lot of people. Obviously, we have good players, but it's not easy to play at our place. If you come to Connecticut, you better have a lot of guts.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com