Women’s basketball: Players and coaches speak to media after first official practice 

Media was granted nearly two hours of access during the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team’s opening practice on Monday.  

That’s a lot of time – especially factoring in Geno Auriemma’s recent penchant for taking his time at the podium. He said a lot, as did four of the team’s most prominent players. 

This will boil it down for you; a digestible recap of the availability that was.  

How’s the team, Geno? 

It appears pretty darn good on paper. 

Auriemma explained how it’s looked this summer and, on the floor, today, factoring in the new faces and the development of players from last season. 

“Today there was a lot of learning going on, [there was] a lot of new stuff for these guys,” Auriemma said. “But I think we have an opportunity to play a different way than we’ve been kind of forced to play the last couple years.” 

The 41-year head coach nabbed a pair of highly coveted transfers in Kayleigh Heckel (USC) and Serah Williams (Wisconsin) to pair alongside a trio of incoming freshmen. 

“We’re a little bit longer than we have been so people can play different positions, people can get a breather during games a little more so,” Auriemma said. “We’re trying to develop our depth. We’re trying to make sure it’s quality depth – not just extra bodies.” 

Azzi Fudd spoke, if you hadn’t heard 

Fudd returns as one of the best pure shooters (and overall players) in the nation heading into 2025-26.  

It was hard to get an answer about her when she spoke. Every answer was about “us” or “we” or “the team.” 

“We’ve got a lot of new faces, a lot of returners, but a lot of new faces,” Fudd said. “So I don’t think we really consider ourselves defending champs – more so [having] the same goal as last year, the same mindset.” 

She was open about what she worked on over the summer – her healthy, rehab-less summer. 

“My healthy summer was incredible,” Fudd said. “I got to work on my body, not being in a rehab but making sure. I’m feeling the best I can. I got to work on some finishing.” 

She didn’t elaborate past basketball, and that’s because there wasn’t much outside of it.  

“I was in the gym. Moral of the story; I was in the gym.” 

She’s also the longest tenured player on the roster alongside Caroline Ducharme, meaning she’ll be expected to take on a team leader role. 

“That’s definitely something I’m working on,” Fudd said. “[That’s] something that doesn’t really come naturally to me, so I’m working on using my voice and making sure other people hear me when I use my voice.” 

Injury updates – Shade, El Alfy, Cheli 

I noted during practice that Morgan Cheli was not in attendance. And she wasn’t, instead at an appointment, per a team spokesperson. Cheli is still recovering from the lower body injury that costed her the final two months of her freshman season. 

“Morgan? I don’t know. I don’t know what her timetable is right now,” Auriemma said.  

Jana El Alfy dressed and “did a part of practice,” per Auriemma. El Alfy is dealing with a calf injury, which Auriemma called a “nagging thing [that] if you don’t take care of now, [will] become chronic.” 

Shade, on the other hand, seems nearly a full go after a hamstring injury “slowed her down” over the summer. 

“Ashlynn went through about three-quarters of practice,” Auriemma said. “Little by little, we are getting closer and closer to having Ash full time.” 

Allie Ziebell continued to practice fully — using a face mask. Auriemma did not comment on her condition. 

Sarah Strong is evolving… into a guard? 

No, she isn’t turning into a guard. Strong, has, however, attempted to expand how she plays the game.  

“On the court, I would say I’ve been working on dribble pull-ups – kind of more guard stuff – and learning the plays from the guards’ perspective,” Strong said.  

Strong will have an invariably large presence in whatever role she plays in 2025-26, but the sophomore forward noted that with the team’s length and overall size this year, she has more positional flexibility. 

“Today I was playing defense on the guards and they just said ‘bigs go down there!’ and I just stayed [where I was],” Strong said. “But it’s kind of weird because I’m not used to playing that much on the guard side.” 

Auriemma was outwardly bullish on Strong. 

“They say that the biggest jump you make in college is between freshman and sophomore year,” Auriemma added. “She’s in better shape than she was because she knows more; she’s more confident because she’s already done it, even more assertive than she was.” 

What’s up with Blanca Quiñonez 

Arnold described freshman Blanca Quiñonez as “a sponge with a dog mentality.”  

Strong, who along with Ducharme and Quiñonez form the so-called “Hybrids,” said the freshman forward “reads the game really well” and has a “very high IQ.” 

Auriemma even had some words; “She’s fun to watch because she’s unpredictable. She has a lot of skills and can do a lot of things – and sometimes she tries to do them all at the same time.” 

Quiñonez did not participate in the scrimmage portion of last weekend’s open practice but was a full participant today. Her size and length on the court are apparent, especially considering her positional flexibility – which helped land her in the same company as Strong and Ducharme.