Women’s Basketball: Connecticut to travel to Tampa Bay for bout with USF  

The No. 1 ranked UConn women’s basketball team (7-0) is set to return to Tampa, Fla. for the first time since winning their 12^th National Championship in April.  

After commencing Big East play against the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday afternoon, the Huskies will take on the University of South Florida Bulls (5-3) on Tuesday evening.  

On Sunday against the Musketeers, the Huskies looked dominant from every end of the hardwood, particularly from the three-point line.  

In total, the Huskies shot 50% from beyond the arc. Specifically, Allie Ziebell led her squad in triples made, with five, a new career-high for the Wisconsin native.  

Including Ziebell, there were a lot of career-highs attained for the Huskies on Sunday afternoon. This includes a new career-high of assists for Sarah Strong, who racked up eight against the Musketeers. Per I talk hoops on X, Strong is now the leader for women’s college basketball in her assist-to-turnover ratio. Against Xaiver, the Huskies displayed tremendous ball movement. As a program, they racked up a total of 26 assists and 42 points off Xavier’s 31 turnovers.  

The history of these two programs dates to the 2002-3 season. Since then, in their 27 meetings, the Huskies have won every single time. However, this time, when both programs go head-to-head, USF will be without their former head coach Jose Fernandez. Fernandez left ahead of this season to coach the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. Now, Michele Woods-Baxter serves as the interim head coach with her 18^th season on the staff.  

On the Bulls’ squad, the Huskies will have to look for 5-foot-7 guard Edyn Battle, who averages 14.2 points per game. However, the graduate student has not performed as well for her team against top-ranked programs. In USF’s 94-61 loss against UCLA on Nov. 15, Battle only notched eight points and three rebounds.  

If the Huskies continue utilizing their full court pressure, like they did against Xavier, Utah and Michigan, they will accomplish shutting down Battle.  

In terms of injuries for the Huskies, Morgan Cheli is still out due to an ankle injury, with a timeline still to be determined. Head coach Geno Auriemma reported to the media that they’re still trying to figure out the next steps for Ice Brady, who has missed the past few games due to knee inflammation.  

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. from the Yuengling Center. Husky fans can tune into the match on ESPN2 or listen in on 97.9 FM.