As soon the game tipped off, the UConn women’s basketball team didn’t give St. John’s a single second to breathe in Wednesday’s Big East matchup at PeoplesBank Arena.
The Huskies opened the first quarter on four consecutive steals, converting each one into points for an 8-0 start on the way to an 88-43 rout. After turning the ball over on a bad pass on the opening possession, star forward Sarah Strong took it right back and brought it down herself for the layup.
Junior point guard KK Arnold then snagged three in a row over a 50-second stretch, dishing a pair of assists to Strong and center Serah Williams while scoring on a layup of her own. Arnold seemed shocked to learn how many of her steals came in succession postgame as Strong high-fived her with a grin.
“I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe I just black out,” Arnold said. “I just go straight for the ball, look where the ball is going. I kind of just anticipate where they’ll dribble or anything like that … I feel like our defensive pressure full-court really sped them up, and that created for our steals.”
But even after St. John’s got on the board to end that run, UConn’s momentum didn’t slow. Azzi Fudd drained a 3-pointer and Arnold grabbed her fourth steal that turned into another bucket for Strong to break open a 10-point lead before the three-minute mark of the first quarter. The Huskies hit nine straight field goals before their first miss after more than five minutes of play.
Behind 46 points off 33 forced turnovers, UConn improved to 16-0 on the season and 7-0 in Big East play. Strong dominated all over the floor for the Huskies, finishing with 24 points shooting 11-for-15 on top of six steals, five assists and three rebounds.
Sarah Strong #21 of the Connecticut Huskies is defended by Sa’Mya Wyatt #20 of the St. John’s Red Storm during the first half of an NCAA women’s basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on January 07, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Arnold was also at the heart of UConn’s impressive showing in her second game back from a nasal fracture that briefly sidelined her last week. The junior matched Strong with six steals, and she was second on the team in assists with four on top of 11 points.
“I think the confidence that she has in her own game and in herself, that’s a big thing,” coach Geno Auriemma said of Arnold postgame. “I can’t overestimate how much that matters, that she’s shooting the ball with a lot of confidence. She’s playing with a lot of confidence, and that’s that’s part of maturity … Right now she’s just in a really, really good place.”
Fudd was the team’s second-leading scorer with 16 points, shooting 50% from the field and from 3-point range with a season-high six made free throws to remain perfect at the line this season. The redshirt senior also contributed four steals.
The Huskies led 28-9 at the end of the first quarter, but their red-hot shooting start cooled off early in the second. While the stifling defensive effort continued, St. John’s outscored UConn 10-4 through the first five minutes of the quarter and cut its deficit to as little as 13 before the Huskies found a response. Freshman forward Blanca Quinonez checked in to give the team a spark from the bench and put points on the board seconds after she stepped on the court thanks to a steal and assist from Fudd. UConn outscored the Red Storm 18-3 over the following four and a half minutes and held them without a field goal until the final minute of the half.
“I think our practices this week played a part in that. It was definitely very defense oriented, working on those fundamentals of keeping your mind in front of you, boxing out, our press, our rotations,” Fudd said. “I think we did a great job of carrying that momentum from practices over to the game. This was some of our best rotations, and it’s exactly we’ve been working on this week.”
Quinonez made another highlight-reel play to finish the half, dishing a no-look pass over her shoulder to Strong for a wide open three. Strong entered halftime with 19 points — more than double the team’s next highest scorer — and she and Arnold combined for 10 of the team’s 14 first-half steals.
Sarah Strong
FOR THREE pic.twitter.com/xO6BEmT2jM
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) January 8, 2026
UConn shot just 3-for-8 from the perimeter before halftime, but the team’s sharpshooters found a rhythm in the third. Junior guard Ashlynn Shade kicked off the onslaught with her first make after an 0-for-3 start from the field, and she hit another two minutes later soon after Fudd drained her second of the night. Strong also drained her second from the left wing late in the quarter, and the team shot a combined 50% beyond the arc in the third to enter the final frame with a 40-point lead.
Quinonez put up six points in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 on 7-for-12 shooting for her ninth double-digit scoring performance of the season, and the freshman also logged four steals to compensate for three turnovers. The Huskies gave the ball up just eight times as a team, tying their fewest in a game this year, and they combined for 23 steals to come just two short of their season high.
“The whole team today, I thought our energy was incredible,” Auriemma said. “I thought we were we were flying to the ball, and covering for each other really, really well, the best that I think I’ve seen so far this year … They seemed to be exactly where we needed to be. Sometimes we’re late, and I thought today we were really right on point.”