HOW STRATEGIC? UConn women’s basketball defeats Creighton to secure fifth-straight Big East regular season title
The UConn women’s basketball team’s full-court press was just too much to handle.
Creighton’s attempts to break through the Huskies’ defensive wall failed.
Inbound pass short, Ashlynn Shade was there to pick up the bad pass and turn it around for an easy layup. And when Creighton tried to throw it far and avoid the mess of defenders, Aubrey Griffin swooped in from the opposite side of the court to intercept the pass and kick it to Paige Bueckers, who found an open Azzi Fudd on the perimeter.
UConn and Creighton are the top two offensive teams in the Big East. On Thursday, whoever had the best defense would walk away with the win and the Big East regular season title.
And because of their relentless pressure, it was the No. 5 Huskies who stole the show – and the crown.
Why UConn radio analyst Debbie Fiske celebrates two birthdays on Feb. 28
Debbie Fiske, formerly Debbie Baer, was a guard for UConn’s first Final Four team in 1991. She is currently in her 13th season as a Huskies radio analyst. Fiske shares a Feb. 28 birthday with her late daughter, Taeya. Fiske and her husband, Tor, have three children: son Traejan, 23; daughter Skylar, 19; son Jaxon, 17.
“When we got some pressure on them, they got a little bit sped up and things got a little bit fast,” Geno Auriemma said. “… They’re a veteran team, and they handle the ball really well. They play with such a rhythm that, our whole objective was just to disrupt their rhythm.”
UConn’s 72-53 win over the No. 22 Bluejays gives the program the 2025 Big East regular season title outright with one game left in the regular season. The Huskies have won the last five Big East regular season crowns since rejoining the league in 2020. Thursday’s title gives UConn 31 overall conference regular season championships, including 24 in the Big East.
The Huskies’ regular season title gives them the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s Big East Tournament and a first-round bye. Plus, the win gives UConn its most regular-season victories (27) since 2019.
“We’re talking about it in the locker room, we’re trying to get three championships,” Bueckers said. “The first one is the Big East. So, trying to prove throughout the whole entire season that we’re the best team in the league, regardless of who we’re playing; it’s always something that we want to strive for.
“… Obviously there’s the end goal at the end of the season, but to be able to celebrate this and do it throughout the entire regular season, we always try to be proud of that.”
While offense is what separates the Huskies (27-3, 17-0 Big East) and Bluejays among the nine other programs in the Big East, neither team could get into an offensive rhythm in Thursday’s first quarter.
Creighton (23-5, 15-2) opened the game with an 8-0 lead as the Huskies went 0-of-8 from the floor in the first four minutes. UConn’s first points of the night came from Jana El Alfy four minutes and five seconds into the game.
While upperclassmen stars Bueckers and Fudd were slow to get going – Bueckers ended the first half 1-of-6 from the floor while Fudd had three fouls – freshman sensation Sarah Strong stepped up and took charge.
The forward picked off the Bluejays and muscled her way under the basket to pounce on every rebound. Her feet never stopped moving as she dribbled out a steal coast-to-coast for an easy layup.
“(She has) tremendous instincts for a freshman,” Creighton head coach Jim Flanery said of Strong. “And it helps that she plays on a really good passing team, because she moves well without the ball, she understands angles, has great hands. I think, for sure, she’s a sneaky good defender.”
As Strong got UConn’s offense clicking, its defense followed suit.
KK Arnold broke a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer before stealing it on Creighton’s next possession and passing it to Fudd. Fudd made the jumper to put UConn ahead for the first time in the game with 47 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The second quarter was all Sarah Strong and defense as the Huskies won the frame 27-12 and led by as much as 18 before intermission.
UConn opened the quarter on a 9-1 run with all nine points from Strong. Despite picking up her second foul early, the forward never wavered. She pressured the Bluejays and weaved between their defenders with ease on the opposite end of the floor. At halftime, she led with 13 points.
On defense, UConn went to its press early and didn’t let up. Arnold and Griffin came off the bench and were huge defensive sparks with clutch blocks and perfectly timed steals. Strong, Arnold, Shade and Kaitlyn Chen all finished the game with three steals each.
“Our press defense has gotten better, and just forcing tough 2s, trying to limit 3s, trying to limit paint touches and free throws, so making everything as complicated as possible for the other team,” said Bueckers, who added she’s noticed the team’s gotten better communicating on defense about when to press versus when not to and sticking to game plan decisions.
At halftime, UConn had scored 21 points off Creighton’s 14 turnovers thanks to 10 steals to keep the Bluejays at bay the rest of the game.
“Their pressure, obviously, was the difference in the game and we couldn’t move the ball,” Flanery said. ” … Their defensive flexibility against us just prohibits ball movement. If we can’t move the ball, we don’t have enough one-on-one talent to get to the rim and we don’t have the size to just throw it inside. They’re a really good offensive team, but the challenge for us has been to score the ball on them.”
Strong led all players with 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Bueckers followed with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Chen also finished in double figures with 11 points.
UConn had 11 available players Thursday as Ice Brady sat out her seventh straight game with a shoulder injury. Morgan Cheli made her first appearance with the team after undergoing season-ending ankle surgery last week. The freshman stood with the team for the national anthem on crutches and with her right foot wrapped tight.
After making her season debut on Saturday at Butler, Caroline Ducharme checked in for the final 1.5 minutes of Thursday’s game. The redshirt junior missed a 3-point attempt but again looked comfortable running down the court in her first home game since Nov. 16, 2023.
The Huskies will conclude the regular season on Sunday afternoon by hosting Marquette in Storrs for Senior Day.
