UConn’s 2024-25 schedule will test players

The UConn women’s basketball program under Geno Auriemma always knows how to get the best out of its players when it matters most.

It’s a process that starts by preparing players with a strong, competitive regular season schedule throughout the winter to get them ready for what they’ll face in March.

See, for example, the team’s latest run to the Final Four after a grueling regular season that left the Huskies starting the year 4-3.

There are the matchups against the nation’s best and against teams that play an unfamiliar style. And don’t forget the big-time games against longtime rivals. Auriemma always seeks to challenge his players to grow and be able to play in any type of environment.

The 2024-25 season will be no different.

The Huskies return 10 players from this season and introduce three new incoming freshmen, including No. 1-ranked recruit Sarah Strong. UConn also picked up Princeton point guard Kaitlyn Chen out of the transfer portal to replace Nika Mühl.

In 2023-24, UConn honored its three seniors with a handful of senior homecomings. The Huskies traveled to Croatia and also played against Ball State in Storrs for Mühl (her sister, Hana, was then with Ball State), played Minnesota in Minneapolis for Paige Bueckers, and went up north to Toronto to face Toronto Metropolitan for Aaliyah Edwards.

As of now, there’s no extra homecoming games scheduled for UConn’s 2024-25 season, But it’s worth noting that both Azzi Fudd and Aubrey Griffin come from cities that have nearby Big East teams that UConn will likely travel to during conference play.

The Huskies have also yet to announce any Thanksgiving plans. The team often elects to play in a nonconference tournament during the holiday week. Last year, they played in the Cayman Islands Classic. The year prior it was the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in Portland and in 2021 it was the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

While the program has yet to finalize its full regular-season schedule for next year, here’s what we know so far about which nonconference teams UConn will be facing:

South Florida: Nov. 10 in Storrs, time TBD

Auriemma is a longtime friend of Bulls’ coach Jose Fernandez. The two will battle it out on the hardwood for the next couple years in a new home-andhome series between the programs.

USF will come to Connecticut first before UConn travels to Florida in 2025-26. USF and UConn used to play frequently as conference rivals in both the American Athletic Conference and the old Big East.

The Huskies’ own the all-time series 33-0.

Louisville in Women’s Champions Classic: Dec. 7 in Brooklyn

The Huskies face the Cardinals in the inaugural Women’s Champions Classic at Barclays Center in early December. That means the teams’ previously scheduled meeting at Louisville for next season is postponed. UConn and Louisville started a four-year home-andhome series this season as the Huskies hosted the Cardinals in Hartford.

UConn will again host Louisville in 2025-26 and is currently scheduled to play in Kentucky in 20627.

Iowa and Tennessee will play in the earlier game of the Women’s Champions Classic at 7 p.m. before UConn-Louisville tips off afterward.

North Carolina in Greensboro: Date/time TBD

UConn will conclude its current series with North Carolina next year. The teams will likely face off at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. to continue the series’ theme of “neutral” sites. UConn faced UNC this season at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

While Mohegan Sun is technically a neutral site, the arena is less than an hour south of UConn’s campus in Storrs. It will be the same when the teams meet next season in Greensboro, less than an hour from UNC’s Chapel Hill campus.

At South Carolina: Date/time TBD

This game is a makeup from the 2021-22 season and concludes the teams’ current contracted series. The Huskies were scheduled to play in Columbia in early 2022, but the meeting got postponed since the Gamecocks needed to fit in more conference games due to the

pandemic causing earlier cancellations.

South Carolina ran past UConn last season in Columbia, 83-65. The Gamecocks are the reigning national champions after beating Iowa in this year’s title game and extending their perfect season.

At Notre Dame: Date/time TBD

UConn will conclude its four-game series with the Fighting Irish next season with a trip to South Bend.

Notre Dame has won two of the teams’ last three meetings including the Huskies’ December 2022 trip to Indiana and this year’s meeting in Storrs. UConn’s loss to Notre Dame this season snapped a 13-game win streak for the Huskies and was one of their worst losses of the year.

At Tennessee: Date/time TBD

While next season may be the end of one iconic rivalry, it may also be the revival of another.

UConn and Tennessee are renewing their rivalry next season with a new “multi-game” series. The Huskies will play in Knoxville next year before likely hosting the Lady Vols in Connecticut in 2025-26. It’s unclear how many years the new series will take part.