2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team

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2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball
2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball
Baha Mar Women's Championship champions
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	7–0 (0–0 Big East)
Head coach	Geno Auriemma (40th season);
Associate head coach	Chris Dailey (40th season)
Assistant coaches	Jamelle Elliott (5th season); Morgan Valley (4th season); Tonya Cardoza (2nd season); Ben Kantor (2nd season);
Home arena	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion; XL Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big East women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 UConn	0	–	0	–	6	–	0	1.000
St. John's	0	–	0	–	7	–	1	.875
Butler	0	–	0	–	7	–	2	.778
Creighton	0	–	0	–	5	–	2	.714
Seton Hall	0	–	0	–	5	–	2	.714
Marquette	0	–	0	–	4	–	2	.667
Villanova	0	–	0	–	5	–	3	.625
Georgetown	0	–	0	–	4	–	3	.571
Xavier	0	–	0	–	4	–	3	.571
Providence	0	–	0	–	4	–	5	.444
DePaul	0	–	0	–	3	–	5	.375

† 2025 Big East tournament winner As of December 2, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

The 2024-25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Connecticut (UConn) during the 2024-25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma is in his 40th season at UConn, and will split their home games between Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on their campus in Storrs, Connecticut, and the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. UConn is a member of the Big East Conference, which it rejoined in the 2020-21 season; it had been a member of the original Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013, and one of the original women's basketball teams in that conference in 1982.^[a]

After losing two graduates to the WNBA, UConn entered this season ranked #2 in both major polls, returning two-time All American Paige Bueckers and a total of six players previously redshirted for injury, with some still unavailable at the season's start. The Huskies added a solid recruiting class including #1 ranked recruit Sarah Strong to the lineup, also picking up Princeton graduate Kaitlyn Chen from the transfer portal. UConn's non-conference schedule includes games against North Carolina, Louisville, Tennessee, USC, Iowa State, Notre Dame and at returning national champion South Carolina on February 16, 2025.

Previous season

UConn was ranked second in pre-season polls but lost three early non-conference games and several key players to injury by midseason. The Huskies went undefeated in Big East conference play and the post-season conference tournament, anchored by previous All-Americans Aaliyah Edwards and Paige Bueckers. Both players were selected to the 2023–24 All-Big East and All-American teams; point guard Nika Mühl was an All-Big East selection and completed the season as UConn's all-time career assist leader. The Huskies entered the NCAA tournament seeded third in their bracket, but emerged victorious with Bueckers awarded the most outstanding player. The Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Huskies in their Final Four contest, a match watched by a record 14.4 million ESPN college basketball viewers. UConn ended the season 33–6, ranked #3 in both polls. Both Edwards and Mühl were selected in the 2024 WNBA draft.

Offseason

Departures

The Huskies graduated senior starters Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Mühl from the 2023–24 roster, and both were drafted into the Women's National Basketball Association. Two undergraduates chose to enter the transfer portal after the NCAA tournament, senior Amari Deberry and sophomore Inês Bettencourt.

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Aaliyah Edwards	3	F	6'2"	Graduated	Kingston, Ontario	Drafted by the WNBA's Washington Mystics
Nika Mühl	10	G	5'11"	Graduated	Zagreb, Croatia	Drafted by the WNBA's Seattle Storm
Inês Bettencourt	21	G	5'9"	Sophomore	São Miguel, Portugal	Transferred to Gonzaga
Amari Deberry	42	F	6'6"	Senior	Williamsville, New York	Transferred to Maryland

Incoming transfers

The Huskies added Kaitlyn Chen, a graduate student who transferred from Princeton University. While at Princeton, Chen was the 2023–24 Ivy League Player of the Year and was two-time All-Ivy First Team. She has one year of eligibility remaining.^[1]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Kaitlyn Chen	20	G	5'9"	Graduate student	San Marino, California	Princeton

Injuries

Recruiting

Recruiting class of 2024

On December 3, 2022, UConn received a verbal commitment from five-star guard Allie Ziebell.^[2] Fellow five-star guard Morgan Cheli committed to UConn soon after. In November 2023, ESPN ranked the Huskies' 2024 class as the sixth-best in the country.^[3] On April 6, 2024, the #1 player in the class of 2024, five-star forward Sarah Strong, also committed to UConn.^[4]

College recruiting information (2024)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Sarah Strong F	Fuquay-Varina, NC	Grace Christian School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Sarah Strong F	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98
Allie Ziebell G	Neenah, WI	Neenah High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Allie Ziebell G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98
Morgan Cheli G	San Jose, CA	Archbishop Mitty High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Morgan Cheli G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Overall recruiting rankings: ESPN: 6
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.

Recruiting class of 2025

College recruiting information (2025)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kelis Fisher PG	Baltimore, MD	IMG Academy	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	N/A
Kelis Fisher PG	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Gandy Malou-Mamel C	Limerick, Ireland	Gill St. Bernard's School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A
Gandy Malou-Mamel C	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.

Recruiting class of 2026

College recruiting information (2026)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
			N/A	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2026 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

Coaching

Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma and Hall of Fame associate head coach Chris Dailey returned for their 40th season. Assistant coach Jamelle Elliott was a UConn assistant coach from 1998 to 2009 and returned after a nine-year head coaching stint at Cincinnati. Assistant coach Morgan Valley was the head coach of the Hartford Hawks when hired by the Huskies. Elliott and Valley are both former UConn players.^[5]^[6] Tonya Cardoza, another former Huskies assistant, returned to UConn in June after serving as Temple's head coach for 15 years.^[7] In June 2023, UConn announced Ben Kantor was promoted to assistant coach from his previous staff position serving as the team's video coordinator since 2015.^[7] Auriemma comes into the 2024–25 UConn Huskies with 1,206 victories as head coach.

Roster

2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	2	KK Arnold	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Germantown	Germantown, WI
G	5	Paige Bueckers	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Sr	Hopkins	Hopkins, MN
C	8	Jana El-Alfy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	RS Fr	Al Ahly SC	Cairo, Egypt
G	10	Qadence Samuels	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	Bishop McNamara	Forestville, MD
G	11	Allie Ziebell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Neenah	Neenah, Wisconsin
G	12	Ashlynn Shade	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	La Lumiere	Noblesville, IN
G	20	Kaitlyn Chen	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	GS	Princeton	San Marino, California
F	21	Sarah Strong	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Grace Christian	Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
G	23	Morgan Cheli	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Archbishop Mitty	San Jose, California
F	25	Ice Brady	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	RS So	Cathedral Catholic	San Diego, CA
G	33	Caroline Ducharme	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS Jr	Noble & Greenough	Milton, MA
F	34	Ayanna Patterson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS So	Homestead	Fort Wayne, IN
G	35	Azzi Fudd	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Jr	St. John's College HS	Arlington, VA
F	44	Aubrey Griffin	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Ossining	Ossining, NY

Head coach

Geno Auriemma (West Chester)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: April 28, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2024* 12:00 p.m., WWAX	No. 2	Fort Hays State	W 89–49		27 – Bueckers	9 – Tied	5 – Chen	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT
Regular season
November 7, 2024* 7:00 p.m., SNY	No. 2	Boston University	W 86–32	1–0	17 – Tied	11 – El Alfy	7 – Bueckers	XL Center (13,355) Hartford, CT
November 10, 2024* 4:30 p.m., SNY	No. 2	South Florida	W 86–49	2–0	22 – Bueckers	7 – Tied	7 – Chen	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT
November 15, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 2	vs. No. 14 North Carolina	W 69–58	3–0	29 – Bueckers	13 – Strong	6 – Strong	Greensboro Coliseum (10,467) Greensboro, NC
November 20, 2024* 7:00 p.m., SNY	No. 2	Fairleigh Dickinson	W 85–41	4–0	20 – Strong	9 – Bueckers	6 – Strong	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT
November 25, 2024* 7:30 p.m., FloHoops	No. 2	vs. Oregon State Baha Mar Women's Championship semifinals	W 71–52	5–0	23 – Bueckers	8 – Strong	6 – Bueckers	Baha Mar Convention Center (567) Nassau, Bahamas
November 27, 2024* 7:30 p.m., FloHoops	No. 2	vs. No. 18 Ole Miss Baha Mar Women's Championship finals	W 73–60	6–0	29 – Bueckers	9 – El Alfy	4 – Tied	Baha Mar Convention Center (1,507) Nassau, Bahamas
December 3, 2024* 7:00 p.m., SNY	No. 2	Holy Cross	W 88–52	7–0	22 – Strong	7 – Tied	7 – Chen	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT
December 7, 2024* 9:00 p.m., FOX	No. 2	vs. No. 22 Louisville Women's Champions Classic						Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY
December 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN		at Notre Dame Rivalry						Purcell Pavilion South Bend, IN
December 15, 2024 1:30 p.m., SNY		Georgetown						XL Center Hartford, CT
December 17, 2024* 8:30 p.m., FS1		vs. Iowa State Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase						Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
December 21, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FOX		USC						XL Center Hartford, CT
December 29, 2024 1:30 p.m., SNY		Providence						XL Center Hartford, CT
January 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., SNY		at Marquette						Al McGuire Center Milwaukee, WI
January 5, 2025 1:30 p.m., SNY		at Villanova						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
January 8, 2025 7:30 p.m., SNY		Xavier						XL Center Harford, CT
January 11, 2025 4:00 p.m., SNY		at Georegetown						McDonough Arena Washington, D.C.
January 15, 2025 7:00 p.m., SNY		at St. John's						Carnesecca Arena Queens, NY
January 19, 2025 1:00 p.m., SNY		Seton Hall						Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
January 22, 2025 7:00 p.m., SNY		Villanova						Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
January 25, 2025 5:30 p.m., FOX		at Creighton						D. J. Sokol Arena Omaha, NE
January 29, 2025 7:00 p.m., SNY		at DePaul						Wintrust Arena Chicago, IL
February 2, 2025 1:00 p.m., SNY		Butler						XL Center Hartford, CT
February 6, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN		at Tennessee Rivalry						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 9, 2025 12:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Providence						Alumni Hall Providence, RI
February 12, 2025 7:30 p.m., SNY		St. John's						Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
February 16, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ABC		at South Carolina						Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
February 19, 2025 7:00 p.m., SNY		at Seton Hall						Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ
February 22, 2025 4:30 p.m., SNY		at Butler						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
February 27, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		Creighton						XL Center Hartford, CT
March 2, 2025 2:30 p.m., FOX		Marquette						Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Big East tournament
March 7 - 10, 2025 TBA		vs. Big East Tournament						Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[8]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	2 (2)	2	2	2 (9)	2 (7)
Coaches	2 (3)	2 (1)	2 (1)	1 (13)	2 (14)

Player statistics

Player	Games Played	Minutes	Field Goals	Three Pointers	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
BueckersPaige Bueckers	6	181	52	13	15	23	27	2	15	132
StrongSarah Strong	6	178	38	8	3	46	24	11	17	87
ShadeAshlynn Shade	6	148	17	8	0	13	10	1	12	42
ChenKaitlyn Chen	6	142	15	2	4	10	23	0	7	36
BradyIce Brady	6	134	15	1	7	26	11	4	3	38
ArnoldKK Arnold	6	123	10	0	0	13	19	1	9	20
El-AlfyJana El-Alfy	6	95	22	0	5	38	3	4	4	49
FuddAzzi Fudd	3	60	10	2	3	9	6	2	1	25
CheliMorgan Cheli	5	55	4	3	1	8	3	3	0	12
ZiebellAllie Ziebell	5	49	6	5	1	6	3	0	0	18
SamuelsQadence Samuels	4	35	4	3	0	7	1	1	1	11
GriffinAubrey Griffin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DucharmeCaroline Ducharme	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PattersonAyanna Patterson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

^[9]

Awards and honors

Footnotes

^ The settlement of the 2013 split of the Big East Conference resulted in the so-called "Catholic 7" purchasing the "Big East" name and reorganizing as a new conference. The original conference charter was retained by the Division I FBS football schools that now operate as the American Athletic Conference. As part of the settlement, the current Big East recognizes the competitive history of the original conference in all sports that it sponsors.

References

^ Philippou, Alexa (28 April 2024). "Former Ivy Player of Year Chen joining UConn". ESPN.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
^ Arguello, Ricardo (December 3, 2022). "Neenah girls basketball standout Allie Ziebell commits to UConn". The Post-Crescent. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
^ Laflin, Shane. "2024 women's college basketball recruiting rankings: Updated top 25 classes". espn.com. November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
^ "Top 2024 recruit Sarah Strong commits to UConn". espn.com. April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
^ Bonjour, Doug (2019-02-14). "UConn's Jamelle Elliott happy to be back home". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
^ "Morgan Valley leaves Hartford to become UConn assistant". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
^ ^a ^b Eaton-Robb, Pat (June 13, 2023). "Former Temple coach Tonya Cardoza returning to UConn, among two assistant hires". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
^ "2024-2025 Women's Basketball Schedule". UConn Huskies. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Cumulative Statistics". University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved 29 November 2024.

[1] The settlement of the 2013 split of the Big East Conference resulted in the so-called "Catholic 7" purchasing the "Big East" name and reorganizing as a new conference. The original conference charter was retained by the Division I FBS football schools that now operate as the American Athletic Conference. As part of the settlement, the current Big East recognizes the competitive history of the original conference in all sports that it sponsors.

[2] Philippou, Alexa (28 April 2024). "Former Ivy Player of Year Chen joining UConn". ESPN.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

[3] Arguello, Ricardo (December 3, 2022). "Neenah girls basketball standout Allie Ziebell commits to UConn". The Post-Crescent. Retrieved December 4, 2022.

[4] Laflin, Shane. "2024 women's college basketball recruiting rankings: Updated top 25 classes". espn.com. November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2023.

[5] "Top 2024 recruit Sarah Strong commits to UConn". espn.com. April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.

[6] Bonjour, Doug (2019-02-14). "UConn's Jamelle Elliott happy to be back home". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2023-01-24.

[7] "Morgan Valley leaves Hartford to become UConn assistant". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2023-01-24.

[06132023EatonRobb-8] Eaton-Robb, Pat (June 13, 2023). "Former Temple coach Tonya Cardoza returning to UConn, among two assistant hires". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2024.

[9] "2024-2025 Women's Basketball Schedule". UConn Huskies. Retrieved September 15, 2024.

[10] "2024-25 Women's Basketball Cumulative Statistics". University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved 29 November 2024.

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v t e UConn Huskies women's basketball
Venues	Hugh S. Greer Field House (1974–1989) XL Center (1975–present) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (1990–present)
Rivalries	Notre Dame Rutgers Stanford Syracuse Tennessee
Culture & lore	Jonathan the Husky UConn Husky Bird at the Buzzer Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Huskies of Honor Statistical leaders WNBA draftees
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics