The fifth-ranked UConn women’s basketball team (26-3, 16-0) continued its offensive onslaught on the Big East on Saturday by rolling over Butler 86-47.
Paige Bueckers led all scorers with 23 points, notching 10 assists and hitting on 10/16 field goal attempts in the near-30-point win over the Bulldogs.
Sophomore guard Ashlynn Shade was serenaded as she substituted in as the first player off the bench for the Huskies, as the Noblesville, IN native was welcomed home by the Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd.
Saturday’s game was the first time in the Fieldhouse’s 95-year history that tickets were sold out to watch women’s basketball, as Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin and Kaitlyn Chen all played in their final away game as UConn Huskies.
Caroline Ducharme made her long-awaited return to the court late in the fourth quarter, checking in for the first time since Nov. 2023 to play the final minutes of regulation.
Ducharme registered one rebound in just over two minutes of gametime, playing alongside Qadence Samuels, Allie Ziebell, KK Arnold and Jana El Alfy.
“It brings you to tears because of everything she’s been through and everything’s she’s overcame and how much work she’s put into it,” Bueckers told SNY post-game.
Saturday’s game also marked the end of a 13-year partnership between SNY and the UConn women’s team – the Huskies’ final two regular season games will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and Fox Sports 1, respectively.
Due to the Big East’s new television deal, UConn games will be broadcasted exclusively on TNT Sports and NBC for the 2025-2026 season, per the New York Times.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet situation,” Geno Auriemma told Chelsea Sherrod post-game.
SNY has broadcasted four national championship seasons and 11 Final Four appearances, broadcasting a UConn loss just three times in 13 years.
In its swan song broadcast, SNY captured another 20-plus point win for the Huskies over its Big East competition for the 14th time this season out of 16 possible games.
Connecticut led for 36:06 in the 29-point victory, crushing the Bulldogs from the field winning the points-off-turnovers battle by 26 points (31-5).
UConn continues to overwhelm the Big East on the offensive end, as Saturday’s win marked the 12th time the Huskies scored above 75 points in conference play and 20th time this season.
Five Huskies reached double digits, including Bueckers (23), Sarah Strong (16), Shade (14), Chen (10) and Azzi Fudd (10), as the Huskies piled on 21 points or more in all four quarters.
Strong scored the Huskies’ first points of the afternoon on the team’s second possession, avenging her miss from the right block on the first possession with a floater from the same spot.
Strong finished one rebound shy of a double-double, posting nine rebounds in 31 minutes to pair with her 16 points on 7/13 shooting.
Despite Strong’s slight dip in scoring the past month, the freshman forward still ranks among the nation’s top underclassmen and has drawn comparisons to the likes of UConn’s all-time leading scorer, Maya Moore.
Strong has averaged – to this point – more rebounds, assists and steals per game than Moore in her freshman season, and has shot the ball more efficiently from the field when comparing percentages.
Strong’s seven first quarter points trailed only Bueckers’ nine, as the fifth-year senior was on an offensive mission early in Saturday’s game. Hitting on triple early in the second period, Bueckers became sixth all-time on the UConn scoring list (2,180 career points passes Kerry Bascom, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Nykesha Sales) and is now just 153 points behind Katie Lou Samuelson in fifth place.
The Huskies used a swift 8-0 scoring run over the final two minutes of the first half (part of a larger 13-2 run over the final 3:55) to pull away from the Bulldogs permanently, ending the half up 42-17 and allowing Butler to hit on just seven field goals.
The Huskies held the Bulldogs under 10 points in three out of four quarters, allowing 25 out of 47 points in the third period. Auriemma was quoted as “fuming” in the team’s huddle after the third quarter ended, with Butler outscoring UConn 25-22 in the period.
Connecticut promptly outscored Butler 22-5 in the fourth, reaching the game’s final score of 86-47.
The Huskies will next be in action on Thursday, hosting No. 23 Creighton at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. for the Big East regular season championship.