UConn women’s basketball will commence their regular season on Monday against Cornell with all 13 players on the roster available.
Over the Huskies’ last three preseason games, Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder) and Marine Dursus (foot) were sidelined due to injury. Morgan Cheli missed the last two games against Texas and Army due to an undisclosed injury.
Head Coach Geno Auriemma said to the media on Saturday that it was the first day all of his players practiced, with Quiñonez, Cheli and Dursus as participants. However, some took part in more parts of the practice than others.
“I’m expecting everyone to be available Monday night to do at least something,” Auriemma said to the media.
Sophomore Quiñonez was integral to the Huskies in their March Madness run last year, especially down the stretch against Notre Dame and North Carolina. Last season, the Ecuador native averaged 10.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in her freshman year campaign.
“No matter how many minutes she plays it’s gonna look, whatever,” Auriemma said on what to expect from a healthy Quiñonez as a coach. “[So], you got to be prepared for whatever. You haven’t touched the basketball on the court, you know, for six months, that’s a long time to be away from the game.”
Now, as the Huskies shift their focus to the 2026-27 regular season, having Quiñonez and a healthy roster will be pivotal to their success, especially with a front-loaded non-conference schedule.
On Saturday, the media asked Auriemma about the vibes around his team, as they are beginning to play games that count towards their record. He says that he hopes they can find their identity early on, and figure out what their approach to a game should look and feel like.
Looking back at their three exhibition games against Syracuse, Texas and Army, Auriemma emphasized that the strengths they carried throughout each of those games are qualities he wants his team to combine come the season opener.
“We didn’t make any threes against Syracuse, our defense was really good against Texas,” Auriemma said. “For the most part, our defense was not great the first part of the army game. So, there’s a lot of those things we want to put together for the opener.”
Tip-off against Cornell is scheduled for 5 p.m. from PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn. It will be the first game of back-to-back matchups in Hartford for both UConn basketball programs. The men’s game will follow as they take on Gardner-Webb with a tip-off scheduled for 9 p.m.