For the first time in a long time, the UConn women’s basketball team has enough players available to play 5-on-5 in practice as preseason officially begins.
Even at the start of 2024-25, which turned into one of the healthiest seasons for the Huskies in recent memory, multiple key pieces including star guard Azzi Fudd had yet to return from injuries suffered the previous year. This time, sophomore Morgan Cheli is the only member of the 15-player roster not participating in practice while she recovers from February ankle surgery.
UConn’s roster isn’t just full, it’s also loaded with talent. Coach Geno Auriemma had a consistent nine-player rotation at the end of last year’s NCAA Championship run, and the team could go even deeper into the bench this season.
“We have an opportunity to play a different way than we’ve been kind of forced to play the last couple of years,” Auriemma said after the team’s first official practice on Monday. “I think we can put a few more different combinations out there than we have in the past few years. We’re a little bit longer than we have been, so people can play different positions a little. … We’re trying to develop our depth as well, trying to make sure that it’s quality depth, not just extra bodies.
The Huskies’ first exhibition game against Boston College at Mohegan Sun Arena is less than two weeks away. Here’s how the starting lineup could look when UConn takes the floor:
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The sure things
The Huskies bring back superstars from last year’s team in Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong, and the duo will be centerpieces on both ends of the floor. Fudd comes into 2025-26 fully healthy for the first time since the start of her sophomore year in 2022, and though she’s made her name as an elite shooter, she said one of her biggest goals for the season is establishing herself as a “lockdown defender.” She also spent the offseason adding more versatility to her offensive skillset and will take on more responsibility this year as a ball-handler than ever before.
Strong is also set to take a major leap in her sophomore campaign after winning WBCA Freshman of the Year and earning second team All-America honors from the AP last season. Auriemma believes Strong can be even more productive with a year of experience behind her, and he said the young phenom also has another level to reach defensively. Strong led the Huskies in blocks and steals last season, and she was top 25 in the country in both categories.
Junior KK Arnold seems to be a lock as UConn’s starting point guard, and though she got starting experience as a freshman, Auriemma said this season will come with a new level of expectation. Arnold has played her entire college career with two other experienced point guards beside her — Paige Bueckers and Nika Muhl in 2023-24, then Bueckers and Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen in 2024-25. The Huskies need Arnold to be a veteran leader on the floor this year, and Auriemma is demanding more from her beyond the change-of-pace role she’s played for the last two seasons.
“It’s going to be a big, big adjustment for KK,” he said. “Whether it was when she was in the starting lineup or last year coming off the bench, I think her role was exactly the same both years. This year … she’s going to have to do a little bit more of the other stuff than just come in and be disruptive.”
Tennessee guard Tess Darby (21) battles for the ball with UConn forward Sarah Strong, left, and guard KK Arnold (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Fighting for starting spots
Redshirt sophomore Jana El Alfy and redshirt senior Ice Brady split the starting reps at center for UConn last season, but Auriemma said coming into this year that the Huskies will need more from both bigs. El Alfy was slightly more productive in 2024-25, averaging five points and 5.1 rebounds in 16 minutes per game, and she was the starter for the second half of the season including the NCAA Tournament.
But the 6-foot-5 center is currently limited in practice with a lingering calf injury, which opens the door for Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams to assert herself as UConn’s go-to in the post. Every transfer UConn has signed during the portal era has started at least 15 games in their first season with the team, and Williams was a standout for three years with the Badgers averaging 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in her junior season.
“Serah knows what she wants. She knows where she wants the ball, and we’re trying to put her in those in those places,” Auriemma said. “In some other places, places where she’s not used to having the ball, that’s going to take a little bit of time. But I think the things she’s good at, she’s really good at.”
As long as she’s healthy, Ashlynn Shade looks like the likely fifth starter. Shade is working her way back from an offseason hamstring injury, but Auriemma said Monday she’s currently participating in roughly three-quarters of the team’s practices, and the junior guard said she’s feeling good as the start of the season approaches. Shade has started more games than anyone on the team except for Fudd after starting 33 as a freshman and 12 as a sophomore while Fudd was out with knee injuries. Now an upperclassman, Auriemma said Shade is also evolving into an essential voice of leadership on the largely inexperienced roster.
But UConn could experiment with bigger starting lineups with 6-2 freshman Blanca Quinonez and 6-2 redshirt senior Caroline Ducharme making strong early impressions. Ducharme’s availability is still a bit of a question mark as she continues the recovery process from a series of head and neck injuries that sidelined her for nearly all of the last two seasons, but Auriemma said she looks as good as ever when she’s able to play at full capacity. The coach is also excited about Quinonez, who brings unique experience for a freshman after spending the last several years professionally in Italy.
“(Blanca) is fun to watch because she’s unpredictable,” he said. “She has a lot of skills and can do a lot of things. … She does some things every day that really, only somebody that’s played against really experienced players knows that.”
UConn women’s basketball adjusting to life after Paige Bueckers as 2025-26 practices begin
Potential sparks off the bench
Arnold may be the most experienced point guard this season, but she still has two other ball-handlers next to her in USC transfer Kayleigh Heckel and freshman Kelis Fisher. Both love to play up tempo, positioning them to fill that change-of-pace role that Arnold has held the past two seasons, and the young guards also have high upside as scorers to provide different offensive looks.
The biggest unknown for the Huskies is redshirt sophomore Ayanna Patterson, who missed the 2023-24 season to have surgery for patellar tendonitis and then sat out in 2024-25 with a shoulder injury. The 6-2 forward brings a unique athleticism and length that makes her a matchup nightmare, and if she can pick up where she left off before the injuries, she has the potential to become a key contributor in the team’s second string.
“She hasn’t lost any of her athletic ability, that’s for sure,” Auriemma said. “She’s still the same ‘Yanna, still the same defender, same rebounder. I think she’s gotten a little more confident around the basket. Whenever you have something, a style that no one else on our team can can duplicate, that’s that’s a pretty good place to be in. We’ll see how quickly she gets her game back.”