COLUMBUS, Ohio — Geno Auriemma even hears it from his mother. “It’s O.K. if you lose,” Marciella Auriemma tells her Hall of Fame son. “You don’t have to win all the time. You win too much. That’s why people hate you.”

Auriemma tells the story on a conference call and laughs. His mother can bust chops as fiercely as he can.

But Auriemma is more annoyed than amused by the idea, since it is at the heart of the question he gets asked every spring as he coaches the Huskies to the Final Four: Is UConn’s success good for women’s college basketball? As if excellence can be detrimental, or needs a warning, like a pack of cigarettes.

UConn (36-0) has reached the national semifinals for the 11th consecutive season, in search of its 12th national title. On Friday, the Huskies will face Notre Dame (33-3), a familiar and obdurate opponent.