The last time the UConn women’s basketball team played Ohio State, it ended in historic heartbreak for the Huskies.
In the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the third-seed Buckeyes eliminated No. 2 UConn with a 73-61 win, snapping the Huskies’ 14-season streak of Final Four appearances. It remains UConn’s only loss before the Elite Eight since 2005 and the only loss to Ohio State in program history.
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The No. 1 Huskies have their first opportunity to avenge that upset on Sunday when they host the Buckeyes at PeoplesBank Arena. It’s the first time the teams have met in Connecticut since 2018, and UConn is undefeated all-time against Ohio State in the regular season.
Sunday’s game is the first of a number of UConn women’s games that will be available behind the paywall of NBC streaming service Peacock and can only be viewed with a subscription.
It’s poetic that UConn will drop its 2025 NCAA Championship banner before it faces the Bueckeyes for its game in Hartford this season, but Sunday’s matchup may feel more like a revenge game for fans than for anyone on the court. A national title certainly takes the sting off of that old loss, and there isn’t a single member of Ohio State’s roster that was on the team in 2022-23. The only Huskies who played in the 2023 tournament were redshirt seniors Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme and redshirt sophomore Ayanna Patterson. Redshirt junior Ice Brady was also on the roster, but she was sidelined for the season with a knee injury.
The biggest priority for UConn is simply making progress amid a 3-0 start and a slate of challenging opponents coming up. After Ohio State the Huskies take on No. 14 Michigan, and then Utah at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. They’ll also face No. 8 USC and No. 21 Iowa before the end of December. The closest game UConn has played so far has been a 13-point win over No. 22 Louisville in the season opener, but coach Geno Auriemma wants to see more consistency from his squad.
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“There’s been a pattern to the three games. There’s stretches where we look really advanced, like it’s not November … and there’s stretches like the first quarter (against Loyola) or the fourth quarter against Louisville,” Auriemma said. “Sunday will be another test, another way for us to find out. … All of the games are going to be interesting going forward.”
The Buckeyes have seen significant turnover in recent years, and they suffered a major loss to the transfer portal last offseason when star forward Cotie McMahon left for Ole Miss. McMahon was the team’s leading scorer in 2024-25, and the team graduated its other two starting forwards, but it returns a standout backcourt duo of Jaloni Cambridge and Chance Gray.
Cambridge is an elite scorer recording 20.5 points in 21.5 minutes across the Buckeyes’ first two games of the season, but she does a bit of everything averaging eight rebounds, four assists, and 1.5 steals. Gray is also averaging 15.5 points on 52.2% shooting from the field, and Ohio State has gone deep on its bench in both its wins with 10 different players averaging at least 15 minutes per game.
But the Buckeyes have yet to face a power-conference opponent, much less one of UConn’s caliber. The Huskies enter the matchup after a dominant defensive showing against Loyola where they forced 36 turnovers and held the Ramblers to 22% shooting from the field.
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Still, Auriemma hasn’t been satisfied with UConn’s offensive production. The Huskies’ coach wants the team attempting 25 to 27 3-pointers a game after putting up less than 20 shots from beyond the arc in its last two games, and he also wants to see more steady offensive flow to balance the team’s current reliance on transition opportunities and points off turnovers.
“So much of our offense is coming from defense, and I don’t know if that’s something you’re going to be able to count on every night, getting 25 steals against people,” Auriemma said. “But I want our intensity to carry over. I want us to play as fast and hard as we’re playing. Each game is going to depend on what the competition looks like, what they’re trying to do, what they’re giving us, what they’re trying to take away.”
UConn women’s basketball’s defense is thriving, but Geno Auriemma wants more from offense
How to watch
Site: PeoplesBank Arena
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Time/date: Noon, Sunday
Team records: UConn 3-0, Ohio State 2-0
Series record: UConn leads 6-1
Last meeting: 85-52 UConn, Dec. 7, 2024 at Barclays Center
Streaming: Peacock
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports 97.9
