STORRS – KK Arnold has been through a lot of different experiences during her time at UConn.
She had to start as a freshman when a wave of injuries hit the team and UConn still made it to the Final Four. She came off the bench to help the Huskies win a national title as a sophomore. Last year, she started and the team once again made it to the Final Four, losing in the semifinal.
And this year?
"You've been in every situation you can imagine and now's the time to put it all together," UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma said Saturday.
Arnold, always fiery, always a crowd pleaser, said she has a new level of confidence this season, her last as a senior point guard for the Huskies. Auriemma liked the way she played last Monday in an 88-60 win over Syracuse in UConn's first exhibition game.
This Monday, the Huskies will have an even tougher exhibition opponent – Texas, which has advanced to the Final Four the last two years – at 7 p.m. at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.
Arnold is ready.
"It's great," she said. "We have a great schedule this year and playing Texas gives us a heads up of what it's going to be like down the line for our nonconference games."
Against Syracuse, Arnold had 11 points, hitting 5 of 6 free throws, along with a team-high six assists, no turnovers and three steals in 27 minutes.
"She played great," Auriemma said. "With KK, it's always been a matter of believing in yourself and having the confidence that you put the time in, you've worked at the game and that you're confident in what you're doing out on the floor, you're playing with a purpose.
"I saw that the other night –- the defensive pressure, the intensity level to get to the basket, taking the right shot at the right time, making the right pass at the right time –- playing with an confidence level, this is it, this is your fourth year, you've seen it all."
Arnold has plenty of ballhandling help this season, too, with the emergence of freshman guard Jovana Popovic, who played 32 minutes against Syracuse. And Arnold said she learned a lot from facing a harder than usual exhibition opponent last week.
"We have a lot of things to learn from, just from that game alone; transition defense, things like that," Arnold said. "I feel like we've been doing a great job in practice picking up where we left off in that game and seeing how we need to fix things, what we need to do better."
And for herself?
"I feel like it's the same thing: me being vocal but also leading by example, making sure I'm being aggressive on the offensive end, creating for my teammates, putting them in the best position possible," she said. "Just make sure I'm the best version of myself."
Arnold said she watched a lot of film in the offseason to figure out what parts of her game she needed to improve.
"Like what do I need to do better in this position, how do I put my teammate in the best position?" she said.
"I'm very sure of myself (this year). Past years, I would dwell too much and be all in my head. Now I'm not in my head as much. If things happen, they happen, just move on and play through it."
