One week after beating the Syracuse Orange at Mohegan Sun Arena, the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team sent another message on Tuesday at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., routing national power Texas 83-61 in the second exhibition game of the season.
Playing without Blanca Quinonez and Marine Dursus again, Geno Auriemma’s team made strong improvements in several areas in this win.
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Here’s what you need to know. The takeaways are in no particular order.
The reigning National Player of the Year struggled from the floor last week, but she did not in this game, going for 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting. She also had three rebounds and three assists, though she did have four turnovers.
The freshman from Serbia impressed last week as she started in place of Quinonez, and she continued to impress here. She went for 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and she was 3-of-3 from three-point range. She also added seven rebounds and five assists.
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Vukosa, the No. 2 recruit for the Class of 2027, played 19 minutes and scored just three points on 0-of-2 shooting. She did have four rebounds. She’s very good, and she’ll be a big part of this roster, but Auriemma wants her to get more consistent.
Arnold was one of the true standouts of the Syracuse win, but she got in foul trouble in this game, picking up five fouls in 18 minutes. She had just six points and three assists, and she also had two turnovers.
After going 3-of-22 against the Orange, the Huskies were 10-of-18 in this one, which equated to more than 55 percent. That’s a marked improvement. They held Texas to just 2-of-7 from beyond the arc.
It wasn’t just Strong and Popovic, but Ashlynn Shade also recorded double-figures, going for 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She played 34 minutes and will play an outsized role for this group.
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UConn will be back in action on Sunday for the final exhibition game of the season. That contest against Army will be played at Gampel Pavilion, and the regular season starts on Nov. 2 against Cornell.
UConn is coming off a 38-1 season that saw them only lose in the national semifinal against South Carolina.
