No. 1 UConn women's hoops uses all weapons in win over Loyola
They say there is no I in team and in tonight’s 85-31 victory over the Loyola Ramblers, the No. 1 UConn women’s basketball team perfected that statement.
Throughout the match, every member of the program saw at least a minute of play, with 12 of 13 players scoring at least a point. Additionally, nearly six teammates notched a 10-plus point game.
Sarah Strong and KK Arnold paved the way as they both dropped 11 points, while Serah Williams trailed with 10 points.
After the third quarter, Strong’s night was over as the bench took the court. The forward buried four of seven (57.1%) field goals and knocked down one of three (33.3%) shots from downtown. As for Arnold, the guard buried one of four (25%) two-pointers and went three-for-three from beyond the arc.
When it comes to Williams, this is the best performance fans have witnessed from her as a Husky. The senior attacked the rim and drained five of eight (62.5%) shots from within the paint. As the 2025-2026 stretch continues, seeing the former Wisconsin Badger become more comfortable in the offense should come as no surprise.
Within 21 minutes, Azzi Fudd contributed nine points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals. The veteran splashed a pair of threes but made just one of six (16.7%) shots from within the field.
Outside of the four starters, Allie Ziebell, who saw just under 19 minutes of court time, accumulated nine points, while Ashlynn Shade scored eight of her own.
With that being said, Connecticut has several options that could produce on any given night and Head Coach Geno Auriemma made sure to emphasize that.
“We certainly had that [three scorers] last year and you saw the results. I don’t know that we have that yet, but I think we will,” said Auriemma. “We have some candidates to be that third scorer and maybe three and a half, four.”
In the Huskies’ triumph, points off turnovers played a key role in separating themselves from the Ramblers. By the end of the clash, UConn racked up a total of 45 points off of Loyola’s 36 miscues.
The beginning of the end arrived in the second quarter, as the squad built a 22-9 lead. Within the last three minutes of quarter one, the Huskies buried four layups and handed the Ramblers a 13-point cushion.
Connecticut’s strong defense carried over into the second quarter and denied Loyola from hardly scoring. By halftime, the squad snagged 14 steals that converted into 22 points. Collectively, the program cashed in 19 points after going on a nine-point run and conceded just five points.
In the third quarter, guard Alexa Kinas nailed a shot from long range. After that, the same story was written as the program had not seen a bucket until the fourth quarter, with eight minutes left in the contest.
To conclude the game, Connecticut almost held their twenty-second squad in program history to under thirty points. However, the Ramblers rallied up 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The last time UConn held an opponent to under 30 points was on Jan. 8, 2025, against Xavier, where the Huskies won 81-27.
Something to note is that the Huskies kept every Loyola player to under 10 points. The most a player accumulated was seven points, which was done by Kinas and Alex-Anne Bessette.
In a meeting where both offense and defense executed an incredible performance, the match was not all sunshine and rainbows for UConn.
In the first quarter, UConn quickly took a 10-3 lead, but turnovers prevented them from playing to their full potential. The Huskies misfired on five passes, which all resulted in the Ramblers stealing the ball.
By the end of the opening quarter, Fudd topped the team with three turnovers. In total, Loyola registered just three points off of UConn’s slow start.
“It was kind of sloppy in the beginning. Sometimes that comes from trying to do five things at once and I think we got better in the second half,” said Auriemma. “I would like to see us be a little more cohesive on the offense and I thought in the second half we were.”
Next up, UConn stays at home to celebrate their 2024-2025 National Championship versus the Ohio Buckeyes at People’s Bank Arena.
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