{"id":582900,"date":"2026-04-03T12:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582900\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:58:09","slug":"sarah-strong-may-be-reserved-but-one-thing-is-clear-i-want-to-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582900\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Strong may be reserved but one thing is clear: ‘I want to win’"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 When\u00a0Sarah Strong<\/a> was asked if there was a seminal moment this season that stood out in either her development or in the coming of age of a relatively young but undefeated UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> team, she didn\u2019t hesitate to deliver an answer that should excite Huskies fans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are still looking for that moment,\u201d Strong said. \u201cI think every day in practice is obviously growth, offensive and defensively and creating connections. But I am waiting for everything to click and have a full game where offense and defense are fully there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is in the midst of one of the greatest sophomore seasons ever by a UConn player as she leads the Huskies in points per game (18.6), rebounds (7.6), steals (127), blocks (60), and made free throws (78). She is also second in assists (145), field goal percentage (59.4) and made 3-pointers (59).<\/p>\n

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Yet, as good as she has been during the Huskies 38-0 season to date, she believes she has yet to play her best game and that the team can be better, as well.<\/p>\n

She is not wrong in her assessment, certainly in terms of how they have played in the NCAA Tournament. Although Strong was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Forth Worth 1 Regional, she admitted it was a struggle at times.<\/p>\n

\"FORT<\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – MARCH 29: Sarah Strong #21 of the UConn Huskies and Hannah Hidalgo #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fight for a loose ball in the second half during an Elite Eight round game of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at Dickies Arena on March 29, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Swann\/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Chris Swann\/NCAA Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

She scored a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds and five steals in the\u00a070-52 Elite Eight win over Notre Dame<\/a>, but she said she didn\u2019t feel quite like herself, and Coach Geno Auriemma<\/a> kept pushing her to try to find a little more in her game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was just like \u2018Keep moving,\u2019 because I was getting a little stagnant,\u201d Strong said. \u201cI kind of let my tired legs get the best of me in the first (half). I just try to do whatever my team needs me to do whether that is get a stop, score, set a screen or whatever is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily for Strong and the Huskies, as the No. 1 overall seed they got to play their regional final game on Sunday, which gives them an extra day of rest heading into Friday\u2019s national semifinal against South Carolina.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable Strong has tired legs. She\u2019s played for over 1,000 minutes this season and often has been asked to carry the team.<\/p>\n

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Without being asked, recently she\u2019s become more of a vocal leader in the NCAA Tournament. Her game continues to evolve.<\/p>\n

\"STORRS,<\/p>\n

STORRS, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 23: Sarah Strong #21 of the Connecticut Huskies reacts during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament against the Syracuse Orange at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 23, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Although she is a soft-spoken person who prefers to lead by example, when the team was struggling to make shots in their Sweet 16 game against North Carolina, she inspired the Huskies with a halftime speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You could also see her in the Notre Dame game being more vocal and holding her teammates accountable. She\u2019s been more willing to step outside of her comfort zone, because she can feel the urgency with the Huskies just two wins away now from an unprecedented 13th national championship. She\u2019s going to speak up and tell teammates what they need to hear.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am not really caring,\u201d Strong said. \u201cI want to win. I want my team to win, so I am going to do everything I can to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few sophomores at UConn have had a more impactful season than the one Strong is having. Her 127 steals are the most all-time by a sophomore while her field goal percentage (.594) ranks fourth, her total points (687) are fifth, and her points per game (18.6) and assists (145) rank sixth.<\/p>\n

The players who rank ahead of her in total points are\u00a0Breanna Stewart (777), Maya Moore (754), Napheesa Collier (754) and Katie Lou Samuelson (747). \u00a0They are all ahead of her in points per game, as well, but the all-time best sophomore in that category is Kerry Bascom at 22.6.<\/p>\n

\"FORT<\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – MARCH 29: Sarah Strong #21 of the UConn Huskies smiles after the game against Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an Elite Eight round game of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at Dickies Arena on March 29, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Andy Hancock\/NCAA Photos\/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Andy Hancock\/NCAA Photos\/NCAA Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The five players ahead of her in assists by a sophomore are Diana Taurasi (208), Moriah Jefferson (195), Renee Montgomery (163), Sue Bird (160) and Jennifer Rizzotti (150).<\/p>\n

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Strong is also the fifth to accomplish what she has while leading a team to an undefeated season, at least so far, as a sophomore. Stewart, Moore, Taurasi and Wolters all did, as well. Collier and Samuelson led the Huskies to an undefeated record right up until the Final Four but then lost to Mississippi State in the national semifinals in 2017.<\/p>\n

Strong is headed back to the Final Four for her second time. Last year she was named to the Spokane 4 All-Regional team and was a member of the Final Four All-Tournament team. On Sunday, she earned the Forth Worth 1 Most Outstanding Player honor to lead the Huskies to the Final Four in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

She led the Huskies in regional play with 21 points in both the Sweet 16 win over North Carolina and the Elite Eight win over Notre Dame. Against the Tar Heels, she broke the game open with four field goals in a row while scoring 11 points in a two-minute span of the second quarter.<\/p>\n

\"STORRS,<\/p>\n

STORRS, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 23: Azzi Fudd #35 and Sarah Strong #21 of the Connecticut Huskies speak before a second round game of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament against the Syracuse Orange at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 23, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest job that we as coaches have is getting her to do that for not seven minutes but 27 minutes,\u201d\u00a0Auriemma said. \u201cTo act like that, to think like that, you know, to impose herself on the game like that. She just plays the way she plays, and you have to really, really work hard (to get her to shoot more). When she does, she makes it look so easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Against Notre Dame, the Huskies only got Strong four shots in the first half, because play was a little too chaotic. She finished the game with 13 shots as well as a 7-for-8 performance from the free throw line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be way more intentional of specifically going to her,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cThere is a lot of trying to isolate her, and obviously we figured out a way to do that, especially in the third quarter. She can have bad quarters. She can have bad halves. But very rarely does she have bad games.\u201d<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s Final Four as a freshman, Strong scored 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting against UCLA in the national semifinals and then scored 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting with 15 rebounds in the 82-59 national championship win over South Carolina. She plays well on the big stages.<\/p>\n

\"FORT<\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – MARCH 29: Sarah Strong #21 of the UConn Huskies celebrates against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the fourth quarter in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Dickies Arena on March 29, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Elsa\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Elsa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, I am just out there having fun and not really thinking about the whole Final Four lose-or-go-home part,\u201d Strong said. \u201cI am just trying to enjoy the time I have with the seniors and the time I have with the team. When we are out there playing off each other and for each other, it is a lot of fun.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Like Strong, Auriemma believes the Huskies haven\u2019t quite played to their potential and had that perfect, complete game yet. He\u2019d like to see a more forceful, complete effort on her part, because the team plays better following her lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a level of confidence that Sarah has that I think she lifts them up to someplace where they wouldn\u2019t be able to be by themselves or maybe with somebody different,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cSo, they play with confidence knowing they have her, and that\u2019s probably the best compliment I can give Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 When\u00a0Sarah Strong was asked if there was a seminal moment this season that stood out in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[226156,64,63,726,283639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-582900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-all-daily-sites","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-ct-insider","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}