HARTFORD — After spending most of last year with just six players in the rotation, the UConn women’s basketball team opened their 2024-25 season with 10 different scorers in an 86-32 victory over Boston University at the XL Center on Thursday night.
The No. 2 Huskies (1-0) were powered by freshman Sarah Strong, who had a breakout performance as a starter in her collegiate debut. The former No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024 finished with a team-leading 17 points plus four rebounds, three assists and six steals. She shot 8-for-12 from the field and had only one turnover.
All of UConn’s newcomers contributed against the Terriers. Freshman Morgan Cheli checked in briefly at the end of the first quarter and nailed a buzzer-beater 3-pointer for the first points of her career, and freshman Allie Ziebell added a three of her own early in the second quarter. Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen got limited offensive looks finishing with four points shooting 2-for-3, but the standout point guard was impactful in every other aspect of the game with five assists, three rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes on the floor.
Redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy was also a standout making her collegiate debut after sitting out last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The 6-foot-5 center logged her first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and she looked visibly more settled than she did in Sunday’s exhibition game. She picked up four fouls in 11 minutes against Fort Hays State but had only three in 17 minutes on Thursday.
Superstar Paige Bueckers leaned into her point guard roots with a team-high seven assists and added 13 points and four rebounds. She was second on the team in steals with five and shot an efficient 5-for-9 from the field.
UConn missed its first two 3-point attempts in the opening minutes of the game, but defense anchored the Huskies throughout the first half. The team forced 11 turnovers on 10 steals in the first quarter, scoring 17 of its 31 points off of takeaways. Bueckers, Strong and sophomore Ashlynn Shade all entered halftime with three steals, and eight of 10 players who saw the court had at least one.
Coach Geno Auriemma went deep into his bench early with all 10 available players checking in for at least three minutes in the first half. Strong led the way with 12 at halftime, and the Huskies were highly efficient shooting 61.9% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. They ended the second quarter on a 12-0 run to open up a 60-13 lead at the half.
UConn’s shooters cooled off again in the third quarter going nearly four minutes without a field goal, but that didn’t stop the Huskies from dominating on defense. The Huskies finished with 25 total steals and scored 37 points off 33 forced turnovers, also holding the Terriers to just 26.7% shooting from the field and 29.4% on 3-pointers. Shade, who finished with 10 points and three assists, matched Strong’s six steals in an elite defensive performance.
Auriemma rested Bueckers, Chen and Strong for most of the fourth quarter, letting the team’s less experienced contributors run the floor without their go-to options. Though it was BU’s highest-scoring quarter with 10 points, the young lineups outscored the Huskies’ 12 third-quarter points with 14 in the fourth.
