UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma often warns his team against looking too far ahead as they prepare to begin the 2025-26 season as reigning national champions, but he joked at Big East Media Day on Tuesday that he would sometimes prefer if his job began during March Madness.
Still, entering his 41st year leading the Huskies, Auriemma still finds joy in the process of rebuilding a title contender from the ground up.
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“There are days when I go to practice and I go, ‘Ugh, can’t it just be easy where they all come in here and pick up where we left off last April?’” Auriemma told NBC Connecticut at Madison Square Garden. “But the journey still inspires me. I still get a kick out of putting a game plan together and seeing our players get better, helping them be a little better than they were last year.”
The journey officially starts for the Huskies in just over a week when they face No. 20 Louisville in the Armed Forces Classic at the U.S. Naval Academy. But before opening the season with a ranked matchup, UConn gets one final opportunity to experiment in an exhibition, against Southern Connecticut State in Hartford on Sunday.
The team had a promising showing in its earlier exhibition against Boston College on Oct. 13, powered by standout performances from star guard Azzi Fudd, Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams and preseason All-American Sarah Strong. The trio combined for 52 of UConn’s points in an 84-67 win, and all three shot above 70% from the field.
“It’s kind of been a hallmark of our team to have players that are efficient,” Auriemma said. “Azzi scored 20 points and took nine shots. Sometimes kids take 20 shots and score nine points. The two of them (Fudd and Strong), they really have a great sense for the game. They take really good shots. They’re so confident in themselves that they don’t need a lot of touches, and when they start making them, they keep making them. So they’re fun to watch.”
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Auriemma knows what he’s going to get from Fudd and Strong, but the story of the preseason has been the Huskies’ five newcomers. Though Williams has clearly started to figure things out, the team needs to see more from its contributors off the bench. USC transfer Kayleigh Heckel had a rough outing against Boston College, shooting 1-for-6 from the field with three turnovers while picking up four fouls. Freshman forward Blanca Quinonez had similar struggles despite some standout moments, going 2-for-8 with five turnovers as part of a UConn bench that had underwhelming production as a whole with nine players shooting a combined 8-for-32 for 17 total points.
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Boston College likely won’t be an NCAA Tournament team, but the Eagles are still a power-conference opponent with Division I talent. Sunday’s game against SCSU will provide an opportunity to see how the team’s less-experienced players have progressed against a lower level of competition. The Huskies will also get their first taste of the new-look PeoplesBank Arena (formerly the XL Center), which underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation during the offseason.
“It’s an adjustment for a lot of the (new) kids, that every possession matters, every drill matters,” Auriemma said. “Not that it doesn’t matter other places, but the competition on the floor (at UConn) is different. If you don’t get it right, it’s not like the next four guys are going to get it wrong, too. So there’s pressure on you to get it right quickly. … All of a sudden the competition for spots, it’s just a dynamic that can only be experienced. You can’t prepare for it.”
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The exhibition also gives UConn’s more veteran role players a chance to continue proving themselves as Auriemma looks to establish a clear first and second unit heading into November.
Redshirt sophomore center Jana El Alfy and redshirt junior forward Ice Brady split a starting spot last year, but the addition of Williams means both will have to fight harder for playing time. Brady stood out as a facilitator against Boston College with three assists, and she also had a steal, but she took just two field goal attempts and didn’t bring down any rebounds. El Alfy has been limited throughout preseason with a lingering calf injury, but she still had four rebounds playing less than eight minutes in the first exhibition.
“Too many players is a good problem to have, if they can all play,” Auriemma said. “Everybody’s got to buy in, and everybody gets an opportunity for the whole month of October and maybe some of November to prove that you’re in that top eight, nine, 10. Then how the other four react can determine how much fun you have coaching.”
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How to watch
Site: PeoplesBank Arena, Hartford
Time/date: 1 p.m., Sunday
TV: WWAX
Streaming: UConn+
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports 97.9
