Now with three games under their belt, the No. 1 ranked UConn women’s basketball team 2025-26 roster has proved that their depth throughout the entirety of their roster has proven to be their most secret weapon on the hardwood, especially on the defensive end.
After beating Florida State Sunday afternoon in their regular season debut in Storrs, the Huskies continued their homestand to take on the Loyola Chicago Ramblers Wednesday night. In their annual Huskies and Heroes night, Connecticuttook the win 85-31.
Despite things being a bit messy on the offensive side for the Huskies, shooting 48.1% from the field, defense was what really shined in this matchup for the squad.
In total, the Huskies forced the Ramblers to make 36 turnovers over the entire game. Of those turnovers, the Huskies tallied 45 points off of those turnovers to add to the final score.
In this win, junior guard KK Arnold proved to be a tremendous asset for the Huskies, racking up 11 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Throughout her tenure as a Husky, Arnold has been known to speed up the tempo of the game every time she steps out on the court, and that’s exactly what she did. The Wisconsin native was consistently staying aggressive in the lane, giving herself her own offensive opportunities as well as her teammates.
“Just being aggressive, being an aggressor, being an attacker that opens things up for my teammates,” Arnold said to the media postgame on what she feels been clicking for her on the offensive side of things so far, “I feel like that’s the biggest thing, just me being more assertive and me being more aggressive.”
To kick things off in the first quarter, things started out shaky for the Huskies before the squad started to get the hang of things.
Azzi Fudd and Serah Williams were integral for the Huskies in the beginning moments of the game to keep the program consistent. In the first five minutes of the first quarter, Williams racked up four points and three rebounds, and Fuddfinished the first half with six points and two rebounds.
After Fudd and Williams slowly started to get the points on the board for the Huskies things started to click for the rest of the team.
With consistent defense, the team racked up 14 steals in the first half with players like Williams, Arnold and Sarah Strong giving their teammates good looks.
In addition to Fudd, Arnold, Williams and Strong, Blanca Quiñonez made her debut as a Husky after missing the first two games due to an injury.
In her first game, the forward tallied five points and three assists.
“I’m hoping we can just keep ramping up her minutes, you know as we go along, either with Sarah [Strong] or when Sarah’s [Strong] not out on the floor, you know, to have a similar type of presence out there. I think it was a good start for her.”Head coach Geno Auriemma said to the media postgame.
In total, the Huskies racked up eight turnovers over the first half. Although out of the ten players that checked into the game, nine of them were able to get points up on the scoreboard.
At the end of the second quarter, it was 41-14, Huskies.
Coming back from the locker room in the second half, the defense from the first two quarters of the game set the tone for the last two.
Throughout the entire third quarter, the Huskies forced the Gamblers to only score three points over the entire frame, propelling Huskies to go on a 23-0 run.
That was eventually what set the tone for the Huskies to finish the game with a win, with every single player available having a chance to put points up on the board.
“Just having plenty of bodies rotating in and out and just picking up right away,” Arnold said to the media when asked about the roster’s depth this season and how that can contribute to the teams’ success, “We’re never left out of energy, never tired.”
Next up, the Huskies will continue their homestand and play their first regular season home game in Hartford at the newly renovated XL Center. Connecticut will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes with a tip-off scheduled for noon. Before tipoff, the Huskies’ 12th National Championship banner will be unveiled in the rafters. If Husky fans cannot make it to Storrs, they can tune into the game on Peacock or listen in on 97.9 FM from Learfield.