Columbus, Ohio — It has become a familiar refrain from observers of all sports, not necessarily women’s basketball. But Friday night, fans of the UConn women will feel the wrath of television ratings, too.

The Huskies play Notre Dame in the Final Four at Nationwide Arena. Approximate tip time: 9:30 p.m., as directed by ESPN. Several UConn fans have emailed this week about the inconvenience of the late start time.

Thursday morning, Carol Stiff, ESPN’s Vice President in charge of Women’s Sports Programming, addressed UConn’s starting time.

“(UConn) is the No. 1 team in the country and we are serving the entire nation,” Stiff said. “Research will show the later you go into the evening, the more audience you will pull. It’s really simple. We’re driving not only UConn viewers, but the national audience.”

When asked about perhaps denying some kids a chance to watch the game because it would end late, Stiff said, “a lot of kids are on spring break. There’s nothing we can do. Those are the best windows. Someone who is 7 years old in Los Angeles can watch it. You can’t have it both ways.”

Nurse honored

UConn senior Kia Nurse was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Year. Nurse is the third UConn player to win the award, joining Stefanie Dolson (2014) and Gabby Williams (2017).

Nurse was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, also averaging 13.7 and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Remembering Pittsburgh 

UConn coach Geno Auriemma was asked several questions about UConn’s history during Thursday’s formal press conference. Among them: What was UConn’s most exotic trip in 1985-86 (his first year coaching the Huskies).

“My first year, what would be the most exotic trip? Pittsburgh,” Auriemma said. “You know, it was like back in ... we were like Revolutionary War. We have to go to Fort Pitt and fight off the French and Indians or something, I don't know, back in the day. And we bussed everywhere and everyone threw $10 on the table and said, ‘OK, how much can we eat with that total for the whole team?’

“It seems like almost another century ago, and now this year we're in Europe for 10 days in August, we're at UCLA, then we fly up to Oregon and then we go to Nevada. We're in Florida a couple times. We're in Texas a couple times. We go to Chicago. I mean, it's ridiculous.”

Quotable

• Auriemma on media members who criticize his program without ever seeing the Huskies play: “That would be like me weighing in on and doing a 30-minute piece on ESPN on curling. I don't know (anything) about curling. I know it looks cool on TV. I don't know anything about it. So the same people could have won curling for the last 50 years and I have no idea.”

• Louisville coach Jeff Walz got the room to laugh talking about playing UConn in the NCAA tournament.

“When the draw comes out, everybody's like, ‘you want to be opposite UConn.’ That's a lie. That's the worst thing you could ever have happen,” Walz said. “How many national championship games have they lost? You know the answer? Zero. When they lose is in the semis. So you want to play them in the semis because (Auriemma) can't coach that game very well. You know, he gets tight. He gets nervous, and he can't perform. Then finally in the championship game, he lets Chris (Dailey) do it, and he's 11-0. He gets all the credit, though.”

m.dimauro@theday.com

v.fulkerson@theday.com