The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
An early look at the Huskies’ 2022-23 schedule
The 2021-22 women’s basketball season ended more than a month and a half ago, which means we’re now about six months away from the start of next season.
UConn women’s basketball players remain off campus visiting family and spending time away from the court until they report back to Storrs for summer workouts on June 1. Geno Auriemma has been spending his time away from coaching by traveling and recruiting. This week, he met with fans at local breweries as part of UConn’s Coaches Road Show.
While the program has yet to release official dates and times for its 2022-23 schedule, we do know a handful of its nonconference matchups for this upcoming year.
Here’s an early look at what we know about UConn’s 2022-23 scheduled opponents:
Nov. 25-27, Phil Knight Legacy College Basketball Tournament: The Huskies will make their debut in the annual Phil Knight tournament created to honor the Nike co-founder this Thanksgiving weekend in Portland, Ore. This fall will be the first time women’s teams will participate in the tournament, which began in 2017.
While the official bracket of the two-day tournament has yet to be released, UConn could compete against Kara Lawson-coach Duke, Caitlin Clark-led Iowa and Oregon State. The Portland Trail Blazers’ Rip City Management will be hosting the women’s tournament at three venues: the University of Portland’s Chiles Center, the Moda Center (the Blazers’ home court) and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The tournament will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Huskies are 12-3 all-time versus Duke, 2-0 vs. Oregon State and 5-2 vs. Iowa. UConn most recently faced the Hawkeyes in the Sweet 16 in 2021, winning 92-72
Rematch with NC State: UConn will begin a home-and-home series with
NC State this upcoming season, hosting the Wolfpack this year before traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2023-24.
The Huskies are 7-2 alltime against NC State after most recently meeting in this year’s Elite Eight. The matchup was one for the books as it was the first double-overtime Elite Eight game in the women’s NCAA Tournament history. UConn edged out NC State 91-87 in Bridgeport, despite losing Dorka Juhász to a season-ending wrist injury in the second quarter. The win moved UConn to its 14th straight Final Four.
Trip to South Bend: As part of UConn’s four-year series with Notre Dame, the old rivals will next meet in Indiana this upcoming season.
The series was initially supposed to start during the 2020-21 season but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the postponement, the series started last season when UConn hosted Notre Dame on December 5. UConn won the game 73-54, but Paige Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus tear in the final minute and would sit out the following 19 games.
UConn leads the all-time series against the Fighting Irish 39-13.
Rematch with South Carolina: UConn announced last summer it renewed its series with South Carolina two more seasons through 2023-24.
The Huskies will host the Gamecocks this upcoming season before traveling to Columbia next year. The two teams were scheduled for a nonconference matchup in the 2021-22 season but canceled the game due to scheduling conflicts.
South Carolina defeated UConn in April’s national championship game, giving the Huskies their first-ever loss in the title game. The Gamecocks also beat UConn in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game last Thanksgiving.
UConn is 9-3 all-time against South Carolina.
The Rivalry: The Huskies will conclude their most recent home-andhome series against their most historic rival, Tennessee, this season in Knoxville.
After a 13-year hiatus of the series, the two schools have renewed their rivalry and have faced each other every season since 2020.
UConn defeated the Lady Vols this past February at the XL Center.
Big East slate: The 2022-23 season will mark UConn’s third year back in the Big East after spending seven years in the American Athletic Conference. While the Huskies remain the top-ranked team in the conference the past two seasons, Villanova did give the program its first conference loss since 2013 in February at the XL Center.
Mohegan Sun will conclude its three-year agreement with the Big East this season and host the conference’s women’s basketball tournament for the thirdstraight year.