No. 1 UConn Women’s Hoops defend PeoplesBank Arena; race past St. John's 88-43
Despite scoring the game’s first six points, the No. 1 UConn women’s basketball team started flat against the Seton Hall Pirates Saturday afternoon. The Huskies went on a four-minute scoring drought and shot a rough 31.7% in the first quarter. Connecticut ultimately shot 46.8% in their 36-point victory.
Four days removed from that outing, the Huskies looked like they knew their way around PeoplesBank Arena.
Right from the start, specifically on offense, UConn played more determined. The Huskies made each of their first nine shot attempts, 10 of their first 12 and reached the 50-point mark at halftime.
Connecticut ultimately flirted with a 60% mark from the field as they clobbered the St. John’s Red Storm 88-43.
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“Today we were more in sync with each other,” head coach Geno Auriemma commented postgame. “We did a much better job of finding the right person at the right time, not trying to force anything that was not there.”
Sarah Strong catalyzed an offense that doled out 25 assists for the second straight game. The 2025 USA 3×3 Female Athlete of the Year scored six of her team’s first 13 points and had 19 at the break. Strong missed four shots in the first half and none in the second for a game-high 24 points. Beyond her shooting, the sophomore forward recorded five assists, three rebounds and a season-high six steals.
Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold backed Strong from the backcourt. Fudd only took eight shots but made half of them and all six of her free throws for 16 points. Arnold, meanwhile, started scorching hot on both sides of the court with seven points at a 3-3 clip and five steals.
Three of those takeaways came in an early 40-second window, something the 5-foot-9 junior did not realize until after the game. Shock and awe aside, Arnold finished the night with six steals, 11 points and four assists.
Blanca Quiñonez and Kayleigh Heckel provided ancillary support off the bench, especially in the final frame. Quiñonez made seven two-pointers for 14 points to go with three boards, four steals and two assists. Heckel had nine on 4-5 shooting with three dimes, further backing Auriemma’s statement that she was a “completely different player” from a month ago.
Ashlynn Shade picked up eight points at a 3-6 clip with three rebounds. Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams rounded out the starters with four points, five assists, three blocks and three boards.
“The more times that you put yourself in that position to become more of a shot blocker, the better for us. Wherever she is going to go next year, she is going to have to be able to defend big guys in the post,” the 12-time national champion noted about Williams. “Little by little, we are starting to see more of that.”
UConn’s offense did the barking, but its defense was just as intimidating. The Huskies picked up 23 steals and scored 46 points off the Red Storm’s season-high 33 turnovers. St. John’s finished half a percent off their season-worst shooting clip at 35.9% while collecting just eight apples.
Auriemma lauded afterward how Connecticut’s defensive energy and rotations “were the best that they have been this year.” Fudd broke that down further.
“It was definitely very defense-oriented,” the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 selection explained. “We did a great job of carrying that momentum from practices over to the game.”
Like the offense, the defensive pressure was instantly present. The Huskies forced four turnovers and a Joe Tartamella timeout before the Red Storm took a shot. Sa’Mya Wyatt got the Johnnies on the board via a jumper right after the stoppage, but Connecticut responded with a 12-0 run.
Over those two initial 8-0 stretches, the Red Storm committed three times as many giveaways (six) as shots attempted (two). Beautiful Waheed and Brooke Moore combined for five consecutive points; the Huskies countered with four layups for a 28-9 lead after one quarter.
Strong crossed double figures 35 seconds into the ensuing period after swiping the ball from Daniela Abies and sinking the floater. An almost four-minute offensive lull soon cast over downtown Hartford, one that allowed St. John’s to again pull within 13.
But the 6-foot-2 North Carolina native quelled the cold spell with a jumper almost immediately following Abies’ three-pointer. Two free throws later, and the Huskies got back to business offensively. Connecticut ended the first half making seven of their final nine shots, which included making four straight layups. Heckel went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe right before the buzzer to put the Huskies up 28 at the break.
Fudd had nine points in that half but stepped up her game in the third quarter. The Virginia native had Connecticut’s first four points out of the intermission. Arnold and Shade combined for five points before Fudd sank her second and final triple.
The Huskies went on to shoot 46.7% from the field in that period, their worst mark of the night. Yet UConn owned a 12-point advantage during that span because of a defense that forced seven different Johnnies to commit a turnover.
Up 40 after three quarters, Connecticut turned to its five-person bench for the rest of the evening. From the moment Quiñonez pickpocketed Shaulana Wagner, the Huskies’ two most consistent depth pieces stepped up. Both newcomers had six points apiece and combined for three steals.
The five-time Big East Freshman of the Week had all of those takeaways while sporting an aggressive demeanor. Allie Ziebell got on the board with a late layup as the Huskies completed their two-game sweep in Hartford.
Waheed guided the Red Storm with a team-high 14 points and five triples. Leading scorer Brooke Moore dropped seven points at a 1-7 clip, while Wyatt picked up nine without taking a shot from downtown.
UConn begins a stretch of three tough games in eight days Sunday afternoon at the CHI Health Center against the Creighton Bluejays. Tip-off from downtown Omaha is slated for 2 p.m. EST on TruTV.
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