It's been two years since the UConn women's basketball team has made a trip to the NCAA tournament, with last year's 64-team tournament canceled entirely due to COVID-19.

On Monday, UConn, the top seed in the River Walk Region, finally found out its next NCAA opponent. The Huskies (24-1) will play No. 16 High Point (22-6), the Big South Conference champion making its first NCAA tournament appearance.

The teams will play at 8 p.m. Sunday on the South Court at the Alamodome in San Antonio (ESPN).

The Huskies also found out they'll be making the trip to San Antonio, initially at least, without Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who tested positive Sunday for COVID-19 and will miss the first two games. He will be able to rejoin the team March 24.

"You have no idea with this thing," Auriemma said via Zoom video conference Monday. "You have no idea where, when, how. I haven't done anything out of the ordinary. I didn't all of the sudden go on spring break. I didn't do anything. I have no idea. Zero."

UConn, the top-ranked team in the nation, will be coached in Auriemma's absence by associate head coach Chris Dailey, who, like Auriemma, is in her 36th season.

Dailey is 10-0 previously in games she's had to fill in for Auriemma, last coaching in his place on Dec. 22, 2019, a 97-53 victory over Oklahoma in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena. Dailey is a 2018 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

"I have complete confidence, complete trust and faith in our coaching staff," Auriemma said of Dailey, along with assistants Shea Ralph and Jamelle Elliot, both former UConn players under Auriemma and Dailey. "I'm an innocent bystander right now; I'm just going to sit back and watch them do their thing.

"Our program is our program. We've been doing this since October. I don't think anything's going to change in the next 10 days. I just need them to win two games so I can get down there and try to help out on any games after that."

Other No. 1 seeds in the tournament are North Carolina State (20-2) in the Mercado Region, South Carolina (22-4) in the Hemisfair Region and Stanford (25-2) in the Alamo Region. Stanford is the top overall seed.

Also in the River Walk Region are No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky.

UConn, which won the Big East tournament championship March 8 vs. Marquette at Mohegan Sun, is on a 14-game winning streak. The Huskies have won an unprecedented 11 national championships and have been to a record 12 straight Final Fours.

This year's team has seven freshmen and only three players who have ever been to an NCAA tournament in junior tri-captains Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Evina Westbrook.

According to a UConn press release Monday, contact tracing protocols revealed that Auriemma, who turns 67 years old on March 23, did not have close contact with any team member since Friday. All other Tier I personnel have tested negative for the virus since daily testing began Tuesday, March 9, per NCAA guidelines.

UConn is scheduled to leave for San Antonio on Tuesday.

Auriemma received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine March 10, according to the release. According to CDC guidelines, he remains nine days shy of becoming fully vaccinated.

"It's very unfortunate what happened, coach not being able to be at the first two games. But nothing really changes. Our mindset doesn't change. We're going to practice the same, prepare the same," Westbrook said. "We've prepared with him so many times that we know what to do and he trusts us."

Westbrook said the players have "the utmost respect" for Dailey.

"Her and coach have been coaching together since before the end of time," Westbrook said. "She's a great person and a great advocate and a great coach. Just (for her) to be there in our corner with us, nothing really changes."

"It does seem like it's one thing after another and it's been a lot for a young team," Auriemma said of his players, who have been on campus together since the summer, even through the Christmas holiday, as well as having several games canceled due to COVID. "An awful lot has been thrown their way for them to handle and they've handled it great. They're more disappointed that I don't get to travel with them and be with them. I think they just like when our whole team is one group. We travel as a band of gypsies."

Among other NCAA teams with local ties, 2017 New London High graduate India Pagan will play with Stony Brook, the No. 14 seed in the Mercado Region, which will take on No. 3 Arizona. Pagan is a senior 1,000-point scorer for the Seawolves, who won the America East tournament title Friday at Maine.

Waterford High graduate Julianna Bonilla is a sophomore at Marist, which won the MAAC title Saturday. No. 15 Marist will play No. 2 Louisville in the first round of the Alamo Region.

v.fulkerson@theday.com