HARTFORD — Sarah Strong scored 27 points, asserting herself in the second half as the UConn women’s basketball team broke out of a halftime tie and  beat Texas 83-61 going away before 10,367 at PeoplesBank Arena Monday night.

The matchup of two Final Four programs of 2025 and 26, figured to be a strong preseason test for both teams and it served that purpose. Jovana Popovic, the freshman from Serbia, again impressed in her second time out in the starting lineup, stuffing the stat sheet with 22 points five assists, six rebounds and a steal, though she did turn it over five times. Popovic, who played 36 minutes, was 7 for 11 from the field, including 3 for 3 on threes and 5 for 6 from the line.

“Sarah made some great individual plays and Jovana made some great plays,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “And then we did some good things. We turned it over a lot, some bad decisions, but that’s par for the course for this time of the year. We may be a little bit ahead of where I thought we’d be. The second half, I thought things were cohesive, more so than they were in the first half, for sure.”

Neither team put together a run in the first half, neither team opened more than a five-point lead. The lead changed hands 12 times, with five times tied. Auriemma was interested to see what Popovic looked like against this caliber of opponent and the Longhorns pressured her, but Popovic hit both her 3-point attempts and finished the half with 12 points, four assists, four turnovers.

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Breya Cunningham had 12 for Texas as the first half ended in a 37-37 tie, but got into foul trouble. All-American Madison Booker led the Longhorns with 23 points.

UConn, ramped up intensity on defense and took control on the third quarter, as Sarah Strong began to heat up with a three baskets and Olivia Vukosa, who scored just two points in the first half, dropped eight in the third quarter. Popovic hit another three to give the Huskies a 53-44 lead with 3 minutes to play in the quarter, their biggest lead to that point. When Popovic got hold of a loose ball, drove the lane and scored, she had 18 points and the Huskies led at quarter’s end.

Thee Huskies had 11 turnovers in the first half, but only six in the second half, which made the different in the game.

UConn’s exhibition games have traditionally been against Division II or III opponents, but with D-1 opponents allowed by recent rules changes, the Huskies took advantage of a March Madness-level opponent and Auriemma left his starters in most of the game, with Strong, Popovic and Ashlynn Shade (11 points) all playing  over 30 minutes. Their last tune-up is against Army next Sunday at Gampel Pavilion.

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Strong, though, dominated the third quarter with 10 points and scored early in the fourth to extend the lead to 18 and run  her total to 24. The national player of the year in 2025-26, Strong finished 12 for 21 from the floor, with three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

“Games like this, you can’t really replicate in practice,” Strong said. “It’s the battle on the court, we’ve got to figure it out whatever happens, offensively, defensively, we’ve got to stay together. We did a good job of that today.”