Eleven national championships, 23 Final Fours and 40 years have brought head coach Geno Auriemma and the UConn Women’s Basketball team to their 2024-2025 campaign, as they begin their quest for ring No. 12 this Sunday.
Connecticut is coming off their season last year, where they defied the odds and reached the Final Four against the Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark. With most of their roster injured and only two forwards at their disposal, the matchup between the Huskies and the Hawkeyes was a tough back and forth battle until the very last second, with the final score 71-69, Iowa.
“Obviously having the game I did 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,” Paige Bueckers said after the team’s first practice of the year. “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.”
With four additions to the roster in freshmen Sarah Strong, Morgan Cheli and Allie Ziebell and transfer from Princeton, Kaitlyn Chen, the team is locked and loaded for a brand-new season, despite players like Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Aubrey Griffin and Ayanna Patterson still reeling from their injuries.
“We have some pieces that are still on their way back, but what we do have is nine players who can all contribute when they step on the floor and now it’s just a matter of finding the pieces.” Auriemma said at the Big East media day. “We gotta find a way to be really good when [Bueckers] is not on the floor.”
Auriemma touched on how he believes that Chen and KK Arnold can be those assets to the team, whenever Bueckers or Fudd are not on the court. Although, Auriemma anticipates that he will not have to worry about other players not stepping up.
An exhibition game against Fort Hays State will be a great opportunity for players to shake the rust off before the regular season begins next week. Auriemma said that he expects Cheli to be good to go for this game after a lower body injury but does not expect Fudd to play as she’s still progressing.
Ahead of this matchup multiple players made preseason award watch lists. Bueckers and Fudd were both named to the 2024-25 Naismith Trophy Women’s player of the year watch list, Bueckers was named to the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Award watch list and Strong was named to Cheryl Miller Award watch list, which recognizes the best small forward in Division I women’s college basketball.
A player on the Tigers the Huskies will have to look out for is graduate student guard, Katie Wagner. In her senior year campaign, she led her team with 569 points and was the 2023-24 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association player of the year.
The Tigers are coming into this season having been ranked at No. 23 in the preseason coaches’ poll for Division II women’s college basketball.
Tip-off is scheduled for noon at Gampel Pavilion. If Husky fans cannot make it to Storrs, they can tune in on UConn+ or the UConn Sports Network.