-
Alexa Filippo
Annapolis, MD – defending champions yukon huskies They picked up where they left off to start the 2025-26 season: winning (mostly) impressively.
UConn, ranked No. 1 in AP preseason poll, slips to No. 20 louisville 79-66 Tuesday in the Armed Forces Classic, a game in which the Huskies blew a 28-point lead before earning their 30th consecutive season-opening win, the second-longest active winning streak in Division I.
The event – the first matchup of the women in the Armed Forces Classic – was initially scheduled to be played at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, but was moved to the Naval Academy less than two weeks earlier due to the government shutdown.
It was the first game for the new-look Huskies after the three-time All-American and 2025 No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers Departed for WNBA. But with their former superstar watching from the stands, the Huskies lived up to their No. 1 billing.
sarah stronga preseason first-team All-American, and azy fadThe final four Most Outstanding Players of 2025 led with a combined 41 points, while Junior keke arnold (13) and USC transfer kayle heckel (14) Completed the attack. wisconsin transfer sera williams Made his first career start as a Husky and finished with 4 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Fudd said, “This team is a lot different than last year, even though it only had a few different pieces. But I think what those pieces bring is very valuable.” “Tonight was a lot of fun… I think as the season goes on and we continue to build our chemistry and learn how to play well together and what our strengths are, it’s going to be even more fun and really special.”
UConn came out of the gate leading 25–9 by the end of the first quarter and led by 21 at the break. The Huskies struggled from deep all night (4 for 26 on 3-pointers) but still managed to outscore the Cardinals in the paint by a 50–18 margin.
“The way we got there [up by so much] Was pretty good,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Not making any 3s and still getting to 28, that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Strong, who shined as a freshman during UConn’s title run, added 9 rebounds and 5 assists in a 20-5-5 game, the fifth of his career. With the ball in his hands more than ever, the Huskies succeeded when the 6-foot-2 Strong rebounded the ball on defense and ran the break, while also being a matchup nightmare and shining as a passer with his game-high five dimes.
“I think we’re going to see teams try different things against Sarah, so we tried different things,” Auriemma said. “We tried to put her in spots where we felt she had an edge on the guys who were guarding her. And I think when you have a player like Sarah who can rebound the ball as she rebounds, and then initiate breaks and get the ball up the floor, I think it’s a whole new dynamic … I really believe it adds a different dimension to our offense. And because she’s such a talented passer, when she’s in her hands There are a lot of opportunities when we have the ball. So we try to put the ball in his hands as often as possible.”
Things stalled out a bit for the Huskies in the second half when the Cardinals moved down a field and were more intentional about getting to the free throw line. Louisville cut the deficit from 25 to 10 with 2:22 remaining in the fourth quarter before Strong responded with consecutive baskets to put the game out of reach.
“Everything is a learning experience,” Fudd said. “So, one, not giving up like we did in that fourth quarter, but also figuring things out at the end. It came pretty close. Sarah had some clutch shots at the end, we made some good decisions on defense, just good team basketball. So it was good practice, good little moments for us to work on and move forward.”
Auriemma wasn’t too worried about his team’s stellar second half performance.
“Let me put it this way: I never want to walk off the court this year because we’re UConn and we’re defending national champions and we’re preseason No. 1 and make wins feel like losses because we didn’t win by enough margins, we didn’t win the right way, we had a lot of sloppy play, we were too loose.
“Today we were a normal basketball team – a little better than normal – but generally speaking, that’s what happens in a basketball game. You have peaks and valleys. You play really well. You don’t play well. You shoot well. You don’t shoot well. So for the first game, I thought it was a tremendous success.”
The matchup is UConn’s first opener against a ranked opponent since 2017-18, when it faced a No. 10 seed. stanford In Columbus, Ohio. The program is now 7-1 all-time when starting the season against a Top 25 team.
