HARTFORD, Conn. -- The UConn women's basketball program and the U.S. national team honored Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at the start of their exhibition game Monday at XL Center. The two died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.

Gianna, known as Gigi, was a big fan of the Huskies and went to several of their games with her father. Bryant said the 13-year-old was "hell-bent" on going to UConn to play college basketball. On Monday, UConn placed a No. 2 jersey with flowers on their bench in tribute to Gigi and on social media referred to her as "a Husky forever."

Mambacita is forever a Husky ? pic.twitter.com/3wdAbdK0Ye

— UConn Women's Hoops (@UConnWBB) January 27, 2020

The XL Center jumbotron featured a photo of Bryant and Gigi together at a game. UConn coach Geno Auriemma and members of both teams and coaching staffs were visibly moved by a 24-second moment of silence that was observed in honor of Bryant's No. 24.

The game started with two tributes to Bryant, as Team USA held the ball for an eight-second backcourt violation, in honor of Bryant's first jersey number in the NBA. Then the Huskies held the ball and ran out the 24-second shot clock as a tribute to his second number.

Auriemma talked before the game about Kobe's and Gigi's interest in the Huskies.

"Gigi started to show a tremendous interest in the game," Auriemma told ESPN's Holly Rowe. "[Kobe] said, 'I wanna bring my daughter to a game,' and I said, as a matter of fact, we're coming out to Los Angeles and playing UCLA, and he says, 'All right, I'll be at the game,' and that's kind of how it all started.

"He came up to [UConn], and I don't know, he must have spent thousands of dollars inside the bookstore getting stuff, and he sat behind the bench, and our kids were fascinated by [his daughter].

"I can't put myself in her shoes, but it must have been an unbelievable thrill ... this little girl who's looking up to these players like they're superhuman, and then you've got my players looking to her dad like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe that we're' ... It was really interesting to see that dynamic work itself out."