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PC women’s coach Erin Batth speaks after the Friars fall to No. 5 UConn

The Providence Friars women’s basketball team lose to No. 5 Connecticut on Sunday at the AMP, slipping to 10-16 overall, 3-10 in Big East play.

Providence will spend its last day of 2025 hosting the defending women’s basketball national champions. 

The Friars welcome Connecticut on New Year’s Eve at Amica Mutual Pavilion, one of the highlights in a conference schedule that was announced Friday morning. 

Providence met the Huskies downtown last year, its first game at that venue since 2010. UConn raced to a 77-40 victory over the Friars, its 38th straight in the series. Paige Bueckers poured in a game-high 20 points in front of 7,483 fans, several of whom donned the No. 5 jersey belonging to the future WNBA Rookie of the Year. 

After UConn, other schedule highlights

Providence will play its other nine conference home games at Alumni Hall, starting with a Dec. 21 matchup against Georgetown. The Friars suffered a 58-56 loss to the Hoyas in the opening round of last season’s conference tournament, eliminated on the first day at Mohegan Sun Arena. Providence will have an extended holiday break before returning to campus and preparing for UConn. 

The Friars start league play with a pair of road games, visiting Xavier on Dec. 4 and St. John’s on Dec. 7. Providence begins 2026 by hitting the road again, playing at DePaul on Jan. 4. The Friars follow with three of their next four at home, including a Jan. 8 date with Seton Hall. 

Providence will play 20 league games this season, up from 18 in 2024-25. The league has adopted the same home-and-home format against all fellow members that’s been used by the men in recent years. The Friars conclude against three of the conference’s top four teams from a year ago – at league champion UConn on Feb. 22, at runner-up Creighton on Feb. 26 and home to fourth-place Marquette in the finale on March 1. 

Friars aim to build off last season

Providence closed just 13-19 overall and 6-12 in conference play last year, struggling despite a veteran roster that featured a combined 10 graduate students and seniors. The Friars brought in four transfers – three who will play immediately – and could debut as many as six first-year players starting with an Oct. 29 exhibition against Franklin Pierce. Sabou Gueye (Florida A&M), Teneisia Brown (Fairleigh Dickinson) and Payton Dunbar (Virginia) are all expected to contribute while Eseosa Imafidon (Louisville) will redshirt and start her Providence career in 2026-27. 

Friars coach Erin Batth is entering her third season with the program and counts a pair of new assistants on her next staff. Sharon Baldwin and Elissa Cunane were both hired over the summer to join recruiting coordinator Valerie Nainima and assistant coach Molly Reagan. Providence follows its tuneup against the Ravens with a Nov. 4 opener against Howard, a 7 p.m. tip on campus. 

The Huskies will start the league season with a Nov. 30 trip to Xavier, looking to extend an unbeaten string against conference foes that dates to February 2023. UConn features returning talent like shooting guards Azzi Fudd and Ashlynn Shade, point guard KK Arnold, dominant forward Sarah Strong and center Jana El Alfy. Each of those five players helped the Huskies roll to an 82-59 thumping of South Carolina in last season’s national championship game. 

Game times and broadcast information will be announced at a later date.  

Providence College women’s basketball Big East schedule

Dec. 4 – at Xavier 

Dec. 7 – at St. John’s 

Dec. 21 – Georgetown 

Dec. 31 – Connecticut 

Jan. 4 – at DePaul 

Jan. 8 – Seton Hall 

Jan. 11 – Villanova 

Jan. 14 – at Butler 

Jan. 17 – Creighton 

Jan. 20 – at Seton Hall 

Jan. 27 – at Villanova 

Jan. 31 – St. John’s 

Feb. 4 – at Marquette 

Feb. 8 – Xavier 

Feb. 14 – at Georgetown 

Feb. 18 – DePaul 

Feb. 22 – at Connecticut 

Feb. 26 – at Creighton 

March 1 – Marquette 

bkoch@providencejournal.com 

On X: @BillKoch25Â