Writer’s Note: more analysis of the team’s roster will be available with Husky Hoopla*
The stage is set.
Head coach Geno Auriemma spent little time wallowing in the agony of a season-ending Final Four loss to Iowa this March and the departure of two starters to the WNBA. Auriemma swiftly plucked a vital addition out of the portal and added three top 11 recruits to surround superstar Paige Bueckers for her final season of eligibility in Storrs.
Connecticut opens the 2024 season as the No. 2 ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, marking the sixth time in school history the Huskies begin the season at the No. 2 spot and notching Auriemma’s 91st appearance at No. 2 in his illustrious 40-year career in Storrs.
Departures: Although Bueckers elected to return to Storrs for a fifth season, the Huskies lost two members of its starting lineup from last year: center Aaliyah Edwards (Washington Mystics – WNBA) and guard Nika Mühl (Seattle Storm – WNBA). The two now-professionals were high-octane contributors on both ends of the court, combining for 215 starts and 2,625 points since 2020.
Along with Edwards and Mühl, forward Amari DeBerry and guard Inês Bettencourt opted to leave the program and enter the transfer portal, ending up at Maryland and Gonzaga, respectively. The transfer of DeBerry opened the roster spot and brought in former Princeton guard Kaitlyn Chen for her post-grad season of eligibility.
Non-Conference Schedule: The Huskies open the 2024 regular season on Nov. 7 against Boston University in Gampel Pavilion and will welcome South Florida to Storrs just three days later on Nov. 10. UConn will then head to Greensboro, NC to take on No. 15 North Carolina in the First Horizon Coliseum for an important early season ranked showdown.
The Huskies will travel to Nassau in late November to compete in the Continental Tire Baha Mar Women’s Championships against Oregon State (Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m.) and either Mississippi or Boston College (Nov.27).
A key stretch for the Huskies will be a five-game sequence in mid-December that starts with No. 17 Louisville in the Barclays Center on Dec. 7, immediately followed by a mid-week trip to South Bend to take on the No. 6-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on Dec. 12. The Huskies will get a three-day break before opening Big East play against Georgetown in the XL Center on Dec. 15 and have a quick two-day turnaround, as No. 8 Iowa State visits Mohegan Sun Arena on Dec. 17.
The three most pivotal non-conference matchups all happen within the heart of Big East play. The third-ranked USC Trojans will pay a visit to Hartford to take on UConn on Dec. 21, a series UConn leads 3-0 all-time. Connecticut will then visit a pair of SEC powerhouses in Tennessee and No. 1 South Carolina within a ten-day stretch in February.
Out of the Huskies’ 12 out-of-conference opponents this season, six open the year ranked inside the top 20 of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, with four ranked inside the top eight.
Newcomers
The Huskies welcome three new freshman, ESPN’s No. 1 ranked recruit, Sarah Strong, Allie Ziebell and Morgan Cheli, as well as a new transfer graduate student from Princeton, Kaitlyn Chen.
At the team’s first practice, Auriemma described the roles he would like each player to have as they enter their careers as a Husky.
For Chen, Auriemma sees utilizing her as a depth player to the roster, adding more physicality to the program as a whole.
“She’s at practice every day, she’s an incredibly hard worker, she’s incredibly aggressive – she’s smart, she picks things up very quickly,” said Auriemma after their first practice of the season. “The ball goes in—a lot—when she gets to the lane.”
As far as Sarah Strong is concerned, Auriemma wants her to have the same role on the team as she did when she was in high school at the Grace Christian School.
“I think we need her to have [a] role that impacts winning for us,” stated Auriemma.
One thing Auriemma is worried about for his team is the size out on the court this season. He wants the size he does have to be on the hardwood at all times, which is one of the facets of Strong’s game that will come in handy.
Injuries
Last season, Auriemma and his team were plagued with injuries, ending with Edwards breaking her nose during the Big East tournament.
To start out their 2024-2025, Auriemma describes his current injured players as in “various stages of disrepair.”
These injured players include Aubrey Griffin, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Ayanna Patterson and Morgan Cheli.
Auriemma says that these players will not play for their first game against Fort Hays State on Nov. 3, but noted that Fudd is the closest to recovery and is starting her red shirt junior season.
Bueckers is back…again!
During the annual senior night ceremony last year, Paige Bueckers announced she is back and has some unfinished business after falling short to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four.
However, this past summer, instead of spending the summer rehabbing her injury, Bueckers spent it traveling to various sporting events, but also working with various trainers to help her get stronger.
“I took advantage of it,” said Bueckers. “Everybody saw the world tour, they didn’t see the work tour, which is fine.”
I have a completely different mindset on how I want to approach playing basketball and how I play on the court.
Paige Bueckers, UConn Women’s Basketball Red-Shirt Senior
“Just trying to hone in on my skills, get stronger in the weight room, that was a big emphasis this summer as well,” said Bueckers, touching on how she wanted to start this next season as strong as ever.
Another thing the redshirt senior wanted to spend her summer working on was her mindset of the game and switching it around.
“Obviously, having the game I had in the Final Four was not what I wanted to have, and I think it really set in and stung me in a different type of way where I have a reality check.” said Bueckers. “I sat down with myself and wanted to get my goals out in front of me and make sure how can I attain those goals. I have a completely different mindset on how I want to approach playing basketball and how I play on the court.”
The new and improved UConn women’s basketball team is locked and loaded and prepared for their quest for No. 12.
It all kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 3 as they take on Fort Hays State at Gampel Pavilion.