The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team returned to Hartford with a bang, delivering a commanding 84-48 victory over Seton Hall at PeoplesBank Arena on January 3, 2026. The win not only preserved the Huskies’ perfect record—now 15-0 for the 2025-26 season—but also marked their 53rd consecutive triumph over a Big East opponent. For a squad that had spent the holidays on the road, this homecoming couldn’t have been sweeter.
Coach Geno Auriemma’s Huskies came into the contest riding a 30-game winning streak dating back to last season, having recently dispatched ranked Iowa and swept conference foes in New York, Indiana, and Rhode Island. Despite a rash of injuries that had sidelined key contributors, UConn’s depth and relentless style once again proved too much for their conference rivals.
The storyline leading up to Saturday’s matinee was dominated by the injury report. Morgan Cheli (ankle), Ice Brady (knee), and Ayanna Patterson (concussion) remained out, but the Huskies welcomed back two pivotal players: starting point guard KK Arnold and redshirt senior Caroline Ducharme. Arnold, who had fractured her nose in practice earlier in the week and missed her first career game against Providence, returned to the lineup donning a clear protective mask. Ducharme, sidelined for three games with a shoulder injury, also made her return, giving UConn a full dozen available players for the clash with Seton Hall.
Arnold’s impact was immediate and unmistakable. She set the defensive tone from the opening tip, pressing high above half court and hounding Seton Hall’s ball handlers. Early in the first half, Arnold intercepted an inbound pass intended for Pirates forward Mariana Valenzuela, sprinted coast-to-coast, and drew a foul while driving for a layup—a sequence that left the nearly sold-out arena holding its breath as Arnold hit the floor hard. Unfazed, she popped up, hit her free throws, and never looked back. In just 20 minutes, Arnold tallied five points, five assists, and a season-high five steals, orchestrating the Huskies’ offense and defense with her trademark energy.
“In KK’s case, there’s nobody else on the team that will be able to replicate what she does,” Auriemma said after the game. “So when you do have her in the game, when you do have that, she does become incredibly valuable as a tone setter. You know that the game is going to start a certain way, that there’s going to be a kind of a frenetic pace to it, that the other team may not be equipped to handle.”
The Huskies’ defense, anchored by Arnold, was suffocating. UConn forced a staggering 32 turnovers—marking the fifth time this season they’ve forced at least 30—and converted those into 36 points. The team’s aggressive press and double teams, with Azzi Fudd and Blanca Quiñonez joining Arnold in the backcourt, left Seton Hall flustered and off balance. The Pirates, led by preseason All-Big East picks Jada Eads and Savannah Catalon, and Florida State transfer Mariana Valenzuela, simply couldn’t find a rhythm. Valenzuela, who had averaged 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds coming in, was limited to just two field goal attempts and a single made three-pointer in the first half.
Offensively, it was sophomore forward Sarah Strong who stole the show. Strong poured in 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, and stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. It was her fourth time in five games hitting at least three triples. “She’s had a lot of opportunities (on the perimeter), and she’s taken advantage of them,” Auriemma remarked. “She’s really being aggressive, aggressively hunting down those shots, whereas there were times in games where she would be constantly looking to get a better shot. Which I’m thinking, that’s a pretty good shot right now that you have.”
Azzi Fudd, the nation’s most accurate three-point shooter at 49.5%, added 16 points, draining four from deep and providing her usual spark on both ends. Allie Ziebell, who had started in place of Arnold against Providence, returned to her supporting role and delivered 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three, including nine points in the second half. The Huskies’ perimeter shooting, a team strength all season (41% from three as a group), was on full display as they hit 13 triples in the game.
The opening quarter, however, was not without its hiccups. After racing to an early 11-5 lead behind a pair of Fudd threes, UConn went cold, missing six straight shots and allowing Seton Hall to tie the game at 11 with a 7-0 run. Turnovers plagued the Huskies—five in the first quarter and 10 before halftime—as they tried to force the issue against the Pirates’ physical defense. “We go from the best passing team in the country with the best assist-to-turnover ratio to all of a sudden just trying to make plays that are hard instead of just making plays that are easy,” Auriemma noted. “It’s a good problem to have that they want to be very unselfish, but there’s a fine line there.”
A Ziebell three-pointer late in the first snapped the drought, and UConn closed the quarter on an 8-0 run. The Huskies then blitzed Seton Hall with a 15-0 spurt to start the second, holding the Pirates scoreless for over three minutes. By halftime, UConn had built a 20-point lead, fueled by 21 points off 20 forced turnovers.
The second half was all UConn. Fudd opened the third quarter with her fourth three, and Strong orchestrated a dazzling stretch with a no-look pass to center Jana El Alfy and six straight points of her own. The Huskies outscored Seton Hall 29-8 in the third, shooting 62.1% across the second and third quarters. With the game well in hand, Fudd and Strong sat out the fourth, letting the bench take over. El Alfy finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Ducharme, in her first game back, chipped in two points, a rebound, and a block in eight minutes. Ten of the 11 Huskies who saw the floor scored, with the reserves combining for 33 points.
Seton Hall, arriving with a 10-4 record and a three-game winning streak, left Hartford with more questions than answers. Despite boasting a defense ranked 19th nationally in efficiency, the Pirates couldn’t contain UConn’s shooters or handle the relentless pressure. Eads, Catalon, and Valenzuela—the heart of Tony Bozzella’s squad—were held in check, and Seton Hall’s struggles defending the three-point line (allowing opponents to shoot 30.5% on over 25 attempts per game) were exposed by UConn’s sharpshooters.
With the victory, UConn not only maintained its unblemished record but also extended its dominance in the Big East and sent an emphatic message to the rest of Division I. The Huskies will remain at home for their next contest against St. John’s, aiming to build on their best start since the undefeated 2017-18 regular season. As Auriemma put it, “As long as you can play good defense and rebound the ball, then you have a chance to win every single game that you play. We’ve improved a lot in that regard.”
For a team that’s battled adversity and injury, the Huskies’ depth, discipline, and star power were on full display. With Arnold and Ducharme back, and the rest of the roster buying in, UConn looks every bit the national title contender once again.