Huskies to face Tulane twice

Tulane, the team which nearly handed UConn its first loss in the history of the American Athletic Conference, is one of five conference teams which will meet the Huskies twice during the regular season during the upcoming campaign.

The AAC announced the breakdown of home and away opponents as the Huskies will play UCF, Memphis, USF, Temple and Tulane will play UConn both at home and on the road.

UConn will also host conference newcomer Wichita State as well as Cincinnati and Tulsa while playing on the road against East Carolina, Houston and SMU.

UConn is 82-0 in conference play since the formation of the AAC with the average margin of victory of 42.2 points.

The Huskies are 70-0 in the regular season in AAC history which is tied with Pac-12 power Stanford for the third longest conference winning streak in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history. Texas holds the mark with 124 straight regular-season wins in the Southwest Conference from 1981-1990 while Old Dominion won 96 in a row from 1995-2001. When postseason games are factored in, UConn ranks third in Division I history trailing only Texas’ mark of 143 straight and Old Dominion’s 115 in a row.

UConn’s 63-60 win at Tulane on Feb. 18 marked the only time UConn won a game in AAC play by fewer than 10 points.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has never lost a game to a team in the conference, recording a 96-0 mark.

The Huskies return their top four scorers from a team that was 36-0 before losing to Mississippi State in the national semifinals. All-Americans Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams are joined by fellow double-figure scorer Kia Nurse. Crystal Dangerfield, who finished fourth among Division I freshmen in assist/ turnover ratio, is another key rotation player returning while Azura’ Stevens and Batouly Camara, who began their careers at Duke and Kentucky, respectively, are eligible after sitting out last season.

The dates of the games will be announced once the television details have been finalized, which is normally in late August or early September.