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UConn women face big early-season test at No. 5 Michigan: What to know, how to watch
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- UConn women face big early-season test at No. 5 Michigan: What to know, how to watch
You don't always remember the final score, don't always remember all the stats or the details, but you do remember how certain games made you feel. And there have been regular-season games in recent years that made the UConn women's basketball team look and feel the way they did against Michigan at Mohegan Sun in November 2025.
"They had a lot of shooters, a lot of good scorers," Sarah Strong said. "They went zone in the third quarter and we couldn't really score, I remember that."
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UConn was in the middle of a 54-game winning streak, and few of the games were close. When UConn faced the Wolverines last Nov. 21, it looked like more of the same. The Huskies led 22-5 in the first quarter, and by as much as 20 points in the second quarter.
Then coach Kim Barnes Arico switched up her defense, and UConn looked out of sync, increasingly tired, and the mojo disappeared. Michigan's 18-4 run in the third quarter made it close, and then sophomore Syla Swords started her 3-pointers, from any distance she chose. Ultimately, Azzi Fudd scored 31 and UConn hung on to win, 72-69, but the Wolverines left their calling card.
Quiñonez and Dursus are both healthy and ready to make an impact for UConn women
Now the Huskies, with Fudd gone to the pros, will fly to Ann Arbor for a rematch on the Michigan campus on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
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"Every team's different, I'm sure they have a different team than they had last year and obviously our team is different," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It doesn't matter how many people you have coming back, it's not the same team. People change. But they have a style of play I think is fun to watch, they share the ball, move the ball, shoot the ball great. They're well coached and I'm sure they're incredibly good at home, because that's what all teams are."
Barnes Arico, while at St. John's, ended a UConn winning streak at 99 in a stunner in Storrs in 2012. That helped land her the job at Michigan, where she has been building steadily. Last season, the Wolverines finished 28-7, best record in program history, and advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Texas. They were 17-1 in the Crisler Center, the lair into which the Huskies will find themselves on Thursday night.
"Even in this crazy world of college athletics changing and evolving, we were able to retain pretty much most of our roster,' Barnes Arico told reporters in Ann Arbor last week, "which was incredible and really special. Our players have such a tremendous relationship with the people in our program, and that's because they see they are continuing to grow and develop.
"So we're older, we're not as young as we were, so I challenge our junior class, who were rock stars the minute they stepped onto our campus, to continue to grow and continue to improve and take a leadership role."
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While second-ranked UConn was beating Cornell, 100-35, in the season-opener on Monday night, Michigan, ranked fifth, will be opening against the Huskies. This will be the first top-five matchup in Michigan's history. Mia Holloway, Michigan's star point guard, is out with a leg injury, but the Wolverines feature big guards who can play inside or out, and pose matchup problems.
"We have one of the toughest programs in the country coming in here and it will be a great challenge for us," Barnes Arico said.
Two of those juniors, Olivia Olson (18.9 points per game) and Swords (14.6), who scored 29 against UConn last season, are back.
"I'm sure the game last year gave them a sense of, 'If we didn't get down 20, we could have won that game,'" Auriemma said. "So I would expect it to be a great game and the challenge is going on the road, first road game, learning how your team handles the travel. Can we take more advantage of what we have than they can take advantage of what they have."
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Michigan will come to Connecticut next year to complete the home-and-home series.
This starts a challenging stretch. The Big Ten has emerged as one of the top conferences in the sport, with nine teams in the preseason AP Top 25, including the next three UConn opponents, Michigan, No. 10 Iowa at M&T Bank Center at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, and then at No. 18 Ohio State on Nov. 12. UConn then plays at No. 7 Louisville of the ACC on Nov. 15.
And lurking at the end of this month of heavyweights is top-ranked South Carolina on Nov. 24.
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"This is why you schedule teams like this," Auriemma said. "You know you're going to be tested, and if you play well and you win, that's a great win. All good things will come out of this game and the next three after that. We could be a really good team and be 0-4 in the next four games; we could be 4-0, but we could be a really, really good team and come out 2-2 or any combination of those. And that's a good way to find out about your team."
What to know: No. 2 UConn at No. 5 Michigan
Records:UConn (1-0), Michigan (season opener)
Venue: Crisler Center, A nn Arbor, Mich.
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History:UConn, 72-69, in only meeting, on Nov. 21, 2025 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Day/Time:Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
TV/stream: FS1 (announcers TBA)
Radio:UConn Sports Network from Learfield. (Fox Sports 97-9 FM, WGCH 1490 AM, WAVX 1300 AM, WICH 1310 AM, WILI 1400 AM.) Announcers, Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske.
Injury report:UConn's Blanca Quinonez (shoulder), Marine Dursus (foot) returned to action against Cornell on Monday. Morgan Cheli (undisclosed) did not. For Michigan, Holloway (lower leg) is out indefinitely.
What to expect from Michigan: After the game last year, Auriemma noted Michigan "plays too much like us." The Wolverines move it around and are very selective in their shooting. Last year, they went to a zone defense that stopped UConn's offense cold.
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What to watch with UConn: The Huskies have a lot of new players, including freshman starter Jovana Popovic from Serbia and shooter Marine Dursus from France who will be playing in a hostile U.S. college environment for the first time. Having Quinonez back for more minutes could be a big factor for UConn against this level of opponent.
