UConn women's basketball wins 24th Big East Tournament title with 90-51 rout of Villanova
The 2002-03 UConn women’s basketball team went 37-1 en route to their second straight national championship.
UConn’s only roadblock from a second straight perfect season? A four-point loss to the third-seeded Villanova Wildcats in the Big East Championship game.
Nearly 23 years to the day later at Mohegan Sun Arena, the Huskies vindicated that team’s dashed undefeated dreams.
Top-seeded Connecticut secured its 24th Big East Tournament title with a 90-51 victory over second-seeded Villanova. Since 2013, the Huskies have captured 26 conference championships (regular season and tournament combined).
The Wildcats held a three-point advantage, 40-37, at halftime of their previous meeting with UConn at Finneran Pavilion. Villanova never led in Uncasville and did not make a two-pointer until the second quarter. The Huskies’ conference tournament opponents, the Wildcats, the Georgetown Hoyas and the Creighton Bluejays, led for all of 81 seconds.
Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player Sarah Strong did not need another triple-double watch to secure more individual hardware. Playing just 22 minutes, the 6-foot-2 sophomore scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and collected two steals. Over the past three days, Strong finished with 52 points, 21 rebounds, seven assists, 14 takeaways and six blocks.
A different player led Connecticut in scoring in each tournament game. Monday night was Big East All-Tournament Team guard Azzi Fudd’s turn. Fudd picked up 19 points on 8-13 shooting with three steals and three three-pointers.
KK Arnold rounded out UConn’s All-Tournament Team representatives. Fresh off her 18-point semifinals masterpiece, Arnold flirted with another double-double with 10 points and seven assists. The 5-foot-9 junior’s performance was, in Geno Auriemma’s eyes, up there with Ashja Jones, Megan Pattyson and even Ice Brady’s tournament runs. Auriemma went further in describing Arnold’s “weekend for the ages” during the trophy presentation ceremony.
“KK started both games [the semifinals and finals] with some incredible pressure on them [Ava Zediker and Jasmine Bascoe],” the 12-time national champion remarked about the All-Big East Defensive Team point guard. “That is the whole point: to have someone like that on your team that can energize the rest of your team.”
Fudd felt that tone-setting aura Arnold carried.
“She came out with that intensity,” the 2025 Final Four Most Outstanding Player explained in the postgame press conference. “That just shows her leadership, because she started each game, [and] we followed. Her energy on offense, on defense got all of us going.”
Blanca Quiñonez further returned to form, scoring 13 points after managing 14 across her first two postseason games with three steals. Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams and Wisconsin native Allie Ziebell each had eight points, with the former hauling in six boards. Jana El Alfy had four points and nine rebounds; Kayleigh Heckel amassed six points.
Despite their offense, Auriemma mentioned during that postgame speech that “this tournament was all about our defense.” The combined 133-point margin of victory does not do enough justice to that statement.
Just two opposing players crossed double figures across all three of UConn’s tournament games. Three made more than three field goals. No opponent scored more than 19 points in any quarter. Georgetown and Villanova failed to shoot at least 30% from the floor. 60 opponent turnovers became 93 points.
The Huskies outclassed the Wildcats 49-34 on the glass. Villanova improved on their 5-28 mark from downtown in the semifinals with a 7-37 clip. While they increased their three-point percentage by a mere point, the Wildcats shot just 27.3% from the floor.
Bascoe, the Big East’s leading scorer, picked up two points in the first half. The Canadian sophomore guard bounced back in the final two quarters to finish with a team-high 14. All-Freshman Team selection Kennedy Henry was the only other Villanova player with multiple two-pointers, helping her record nine points and seven boards. Dani Ceseretti picked up eight first-quarter points while Denae Carter dropped six.
The Huskies attempted three field goals before the Wildcats grabbed a rebound. None of them went in, but Connecticut’s fourth shot, a Strong elbow three, did. Arnold’s coast-to-coast bucket followed, as did two jumpers after a Carter triple. Williams landed a layup as Denise Dillon called her first timeout.
A minute passed before the Huskies made two fast-break buckets. Ceseretti ended UConn’s 10-0 run only for the North Carolina native to respond with a driving layup. Fudd’s four points sandwiched the Rhode Island native’s two triples as the Huskies led 23-11 after one quarter.
Connecticut’s ball-handling loosened as Villanova’s defense got peskier. The Wildcats forced six Huskies turnovers, five of which came in the period’s first 4.5 minutes. But UConn expanded their margin to 20 behind Quiñonez, who scored five straight points in less than 35 seconds.
Bascoe gave Villanova their first two-pointer two minutes later. Despite giving up that scoop-and-score, however, the graduate guard countered with a three-pointer on the other end. The Huskies’ first South American player tacked on four more points as both offenses heated up.
Over the second quarter’s final three minutes, the two Big East rivals combined to make half of their 10 shot attempts. Fudd capped off the first half, which saw UConn ahead 49-23, with a scoop-and-score from half-court.
The Huskies’ three all-tournament selections sparked a run of four straight makes to begin the third quarter. The Wildcats’ star sophomore guard’s 10 points provided an answer that allowed them to stay close with Connecticut throughout the frame. Yet the Class of 2021 No. 1 recruit’s hot shooting and Heckel’s absurd one-handed basket kept the Huskies up over 25.
Sophomores delivered on both ends of the floor in the final frame. Ziebell came through offensively, leading UConn with eight points and a plus-minus of plus-13 in nine minutes. El Alfy, meanwhile, snagged eight rebounds and had two assists. Ayanna Patterson’s contested bucket and a standing ovation put a bow on the Huskies’ 50th consecutive victory.
Connecticut has at least 11 days between now and their first NCAA Tournament contest, which will almost certainly be at Gampel Pavilion. Which No. 16 seed the Huskies will face, though, will not be determined until Selection Sunday.
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