STORRS — In the last dress rehearsal before the curtain goes up on the 2026-27 UConn women’s basketball season, the Huskies got good, long looks at all their healthy players and breezed past Army, 86-50, at refurbished M&T Bank Center at Gampel Pavilion.
All-American and AP player of the year Sarah Strong scored 19 points in 23 minutes, with seven rebounds and three assists, and looked like she ready for her junior season to begin.
Freshman Jovana Popovic had another all-around game, with 10 points, four assists. Allie Ziebell scored 13. The Huskies had good ball movement throughout the game, as indicated by the distribution of the scoring, all 10 players hitting baskets, and the shooting percentages. 49.3 from the floor, including 9-for-25 on 3-pointers.
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“The stretches we look good need to last longer than the stretches we struggle to make shots,” Geno Auriemma said postgame. “I think we’re ready for the next phase.”
Auriemma also said the team isn’t yet set on a starting lineup. “We’re still working on that,” he said.
The Huskies defeated Syracuse, Texas and Army in their three preseason games. They begin the regular season Nov. 2 against Cornell at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford at 5 p.m.
Sophomore forward Reganne Reardon led Army with 15 points.
None of UConn’s injured players made it back onto the floor for the last preseason game, Blanca Quinonez, Marine Dursus and Morgan Cheli all unavailable. Those players are all in “return-to-play protocol,” Auriemma said, so they could possibly be available for the season opener.
Army jumped out to a 15-7 lead, startling the Huskies’ with some 3-point shooting, but once UConn got rolling it was the familiar pattern. Sarah Strong, after a sluggish start, hit a couple of threes and finished the first half with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Ashlynn Shade had nine boards, Jovana Popovic and Allie Ziebell eight each as the Huskies outscored their opponent 45-10, including a 15-0 spurt starting midway through the second quarter, to take a 53-25 lead at the half. UConn had 14 assists in 18 baskets in the half, displaying signature ball movement with the season a week away.