{"id":224645,"date":"2025-10-14T18:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/224645\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T18:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:45:09","slug":"serah-williams-shows-game-changing-potential-for-uconn-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/224645\/","title":{"rendered":"Serah Williams shows game-changing potential for UConn women"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNCASVILLE \u2014 Former Wisconsin star Serah Williams<\/a> spent the first three years of her college career playing on losing teams, but the UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> transfer looked like a winner in the team\u2019s 84-67 exhibition game victory<\/a> over Boston College on Monday.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4 senior seemed dramatically more comfortable against the Eagles than she did even three weeks ago when the team held an open preseason practice<\/a> for fans. In just 17 minutes on the court, Williams finished with 15 points shooting 5-for-7 from the field plus five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. The Huskies were plus-18 when she was on the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s pretty intense,\u201d coach Geno Auriemma said after the exhibition. \u201cShe\u2019s a really good rebounder, obviously. She finishes around the basket. Defensively, she has a pretty good idea of how to use her size and athleticism. Ever since we started practice two weeks ago, she\u2019s gotten better and better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a confident scorer in the post is a breath of fresh air for UConn. Gone are the days of \u201cpoint center\u201d Paige Bueckers, of 6-foot-2 Sarah Strong being the tallest player on the floor. For the first time in years, the Huskies\u2019 best option isn\u2019t to play small.<\/p>\n

\"UConnUConn guard Azzi Fudd, left, and UConn forward Serah Williams, right, pressure Boston College guard Ava McGee, center, in the first half of an exhibition NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)<\/p>\n

On Monday, Auriemma experimented with lineups that few teams in the country will be able to match for size. Williams and Strong were frequently on the floor together, and adding 6-foot-2 freshman Blanca Quinonez<\/a> creates an ultra-versatile combination of two forwards with guard skills next to a more traditional post presence. Ice Brady<\/a> struggled at times last year to handle physicality in the paint as the Huskies\u2019 starting center, and the rotation against Boston College indicated that the 6-foot-3 redshirt senior can play significant minutes in a more comfortable spot as a power forward beside Williams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last couple of years, we had to play one way, and that was it,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cWe had to be very, very cautious. So if we\u2019re able to develop some of this depth as the game goes on, we can change how we play and combinations that go out there as the season goes on. Some players will thrive with certain other players on the floor, and we\u2019ve got to find out who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

What we learned about UConn women\u2019s basketball in exhibition victory vs. Boston College<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Williams admits her transition to UConn has been more difficult than she expected, in part because of the heightened intensity and the championship standard that the program demands. But it\u2019s also a major change on the court. Over three years at Wisconsin, Williams got used to being the top line of each opponent\u2019s scouting report. In both her sophomore and junior seasons, she was the only Badgers player averaging more than 11 points per game, and she quickly began to face double- and triple-teams every time she touched the ball. And though Williams learned to navigate that level of defensive pressure successfully, averaging a career-high 19.2 points plus 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 2024-25, the experience got old quickly.<\/p>\n

When she was suddenly surrounded in the Huskies\u2019 starting lineup by four former top-15 recruits, Williams found herself moving through the paint with more space than she knew what to do with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning how to play slower, because I don\u2019t have to score as quickly anymore,\u201d Williams said after practice last week. \u201cThat was one of my big things in the portal was I wanted to play with other good players \u2026 I\u2019m just learning how to play team basketball and be part of the team, feeding off people and having the different aspects that come with an all-around good team. I really wanted that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams is slowly but surely getting acclimated to her new reality, and Monday\u2019s game script showed how important the senior center is to unlocking the rest of UConn\u2019s offense. She and Strong dominated the first half, accounting for 10 of the team\u2019s 18 made field goals and 25 of their 43 points.<\/p>\n

Dom Amore: For UConn women, this is what Sarah Strong 2.0 looks like<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But after Boston College went to a zone defense to try to limit the Huskies\u2019 paint touches, it opened up a wealth of opportunities for the team\u2019s shooters. Star guard Azzi Fudd<\/a> attempted just four shots in the first half, then hit five consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter including a pair from the same spot in the left corner. Sophomore Ashlynn Shade<\/a> also went 2-for-2 beyond the arc in the second half, and the team shot a combined 8-for-11 after entering halftime 2-for-17.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a really good player, so playing with Serah is a lot of fun,\u201d Strong said. \u201cShe has a high IQ, and she knows where to be at the right time, so it\u2019s easy to play with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still October, and the Eagles are far from the best opponent the Huskies will see this season, but this is also likely the worst Williams will be as she continues settling in to the brand-new system. The senior came to UConn because she was tired of watching the NCAA Tournament from home, and if the team is competing for a national title again in April, Williams will be a big part of the reason why.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the easiest thing in the world to play one way for three years and then come in and be thrown into a scenario like ours, but I think she\u2019s going to be a huge help to us,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cHow many minutes did she play today? 18? She\u2019ll probably play a lot more than that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNCASVILLE \u2014 Former Wisconsin star Serah Williams spent the first three years of her college career playing on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[103363,16393,402,103359,8944,4044,2000,15861,37762,15862,116145,983,398,400,3789,401,20510,103360,99,1092,31478,31477,55748,7561,2088],"class_list":["post-224645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-ashlynn-shade","tag-azzi-fudd","tag-basketball","tag-blanca-quinonez","tag-boston-college-eagles","tag-college-basketball","tag-connecticut","tag-ct-news","tag-geno-auriemma","tag-hartford-courant","tag-ice-brady","tag-local-news","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-ncaabasketball","tag-sarah-strong","tag-serah-williams","tag-sports","tag-transfer-portal","tag-uconn-huskies","tag-uconn-womens-basketball","tag-wisconsin-womens-basketball","tag-wisconsin-badgers","tag-womens-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}