The 2023–24 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represented the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

(UConn) during the

2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning on March 20 and ending with the 2024 NCAA Division ...

. The Huskies, led by

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

head coach

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an Italian-born American college basketball coach and, since 1985, the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. , he has led UConn to 17 undefeated conference sea ...

in his 39th season at UConn, split their home games between

Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Harry A. Gampel Pavilion is a 10,167-seat multi-purpose arena in Storrs, Connecticut, United States, on the campus of the University of Connecticut (UConn). The arena opened on January 21, 1990, and is the largest on-campus arena in New England. ...

on their campus in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,344 at the 2010 Unite ...

, and the

XL Center The XL Center (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development ...

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. UConn is a member of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

, which it rejoined in the 2020–21 season; it had been a member of the original Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013, and one of the original women's basketball teams in that conference in 1982. UConn lost key players to injury early in the season and dropped several non-conference games. However, led by All-Americans

Paige Bueckers Paige Madison Bueckers ( ; born October 20, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies of the Big East Conference. At Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Bueckers was ranked as th ...

and

Aaliyah Edwards Aaliyah Edwards (born July 9, 2002) is a Canadian college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference. College career Edwards is currently a junior playing with the UConn Huskies women's basketball team. She is averaging a ...

, the Huskies went undefeated in the Big East and then won the conference tournament. In the NCAA tournament, they advanced to the Final Four before losing to the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

. UConn finished the season with a record of 33–6 and were ranked #3 in the final AP and

Coaches poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

Previous season

The 2022–23 UConn Huskies began with season-ending injuries to All-American junior guard

and freshman forward Ice Brady. The team played well early in the season, but injuries to

Azzi Fudd Azzi Fudd (born November 11, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference. Fudd attended St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. and became the first sophomore to win Gatorade Player ...

, Dorka Juhász, and Caroline Ducharme often forced starters like

Nika Mühl Nika Mühl (born 9 April 2001) is a Croatian college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference. She plays the point guard position. Twice a Big East Defensive Player of the Year (2022, 2023), Mühl is the Huskies' all-tim ...

, and Aubrey Griffin to play full games and graduate transfer Lou Lopez Sénéchal to take on scoring responsibilities. Mühl ranked second among all NCAA women in assists during the season, UConn relying on her high energy and court vision to make Husky touches in the paint quick and decisive. With a light bench, Edwards, Mühl, Juhász, Lopez Sénéchal, and Griffin became a durable quintet in January; when Fudd and Ducharme returned, the team quickly improved. UConn dominated the Big East tournament. In the NCAA tournament, they advanced to their 29th consecutive Sweet Sixteen before being upset by a swarming

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

defense. This was the first time the Huskies failed to reach the Final Four since 2007 (not counting the

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

-disrupted 2019–20 season in which the NCAA tournament was not held).

Offseason

Departures

The Huskies graduated senior starters Dorka Juhász and Lou Lopez Sénéchal from the 2022–23 roster, and both were drafted into the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

Injuries

Freshman center Jana El Alfy suffered an

achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

injury in August while playing for the Egyptian national U19 team and later underwent corrective surgery.

Recruiting

ESPN evaluated UConn's class of 2023 as the fourth-ranked group in the country, behind LSU, South Carolina, and Arizona.

Recruiting class of 2024

On December 3, 2022, UConn received a verbal commitment from five-star guard Allie Ziebell. Fellow five-star guard Morgan Cheli committed to UConn soon after. In November 2023, ESPN ranked the Huskies' 2024 class as the sixth-best in the country. On April 6, 2024, the #1 player in the class of 2024, five-star forward Sarah Strong, also committed to UConn.

Recruiting class of 2025

Coaching

Hall of Fame head coach

and Hall of Fame associate head coach

Chris Dailey Christine A. Dailey (born September 7, 1959) is an American women's basketball coach, who has been the associate head coach for the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team since 1988. Dailey was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fa ...

returned for their 39th season. Assistant coach

Jamelle Elliott Jamelle Renee Elliott (born May 18, 1974) is an American women's basketball coach, formerly at the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team. Early life and high school Elliott was introduced to basketball by her cousin Adrien Elliott, who ...

was a UConn assistant coach from 1998 to 2009 and returned after a nine-year head coaching stint at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Assistant coach

Morgan Valley Morgan Valley is a former American basketball player, former head coach of the Hartford Hawks women's basketball team, and current assistant coach for the UConn Huskies basketball team. Playing career High school A two-time Vermont Miss Basket ...

was the head coach of the

Hartford Hawks The Hartford Hawks are the NCAA Division I athletic teams of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's tennis teams were ...

when hired by the Huskies. Elliott and Valley are both former UConn players. Tonya Cardoza, another former Huskies assistant, returned to UConn in June after serving as

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

's head coach for 15 years. Also in June, UConn announced Ben Kantor was promoted to assistant coach from his previous staff position serving as the team's video coordinator since 2015. On February 7, 2024, this year's squad defeated Seton Hall for Auriemma's 1200th career win. He became only the third NCAA basketball coach to reach that mark.

Season summary

Even after graduating two WNBA draftees, the Huskies entered the season with six reliable and tested starters, led by seniors

, Aubrey Griffin, and 2023 All-American

. Juniors

, Caroline Ducharme, and 2021 All-American

returned in the backcourt. UConn were ranked #2 in the preseason AP and

s. However, the Huskies' injury problems of the previous few seasons continued to plague them. Freshman center Jana El Alfy got hurt during the offseason. Sophomore forward Ayanna Patterson suffered a knee injury in December and never played a game. Fudd only played two games before suffering a non-contact injury in practice in November. She was diagnosed with an ACL injury and was out for the rest of the season.Philippou, Alexa
"UConn's Azzi Fudd out for season with torn ACL, meniscus"
espn.com. November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2023. Ducharme, who had previously struggled with recurring neck issues, only played four games. On January 23, she announced that she would not be returning to play this season. UConn's injuries, combined with a tough non-conference schedule, led to three losses to quality opponents in their first seven games of the season. The Huskies then went on a 13-game winning streak as they started their Big East schedule, though they became even more shorthanded when Griffin experienced an ACL tear in her left knee during the Creighton game on January 3. For most of the season, UConn ran out a starting lineup of forward Edwards, guards Bueckers and Mühl, and freshmen guards KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade. Freshmen forward Ice Brady and guard Qadence Samuels were the primary substitutes on a very short bench. Forward Amari DeBerry and guard Inês Bettencourt provided spot minutes when needed. With Bueckers leading the team in points, Edwards leading in rebounds, and Mühl leading in assists, UConn went 18–0 in the Big East to win the conference regular season title. They never dropped out of the top 25 in the AP and Coaches polls. During this time, they lost two more games to ranked non-conference opponents, but they won all of their Big East games by at least 15 points and had an overall record of 26–5 going into the postseason. Bueckers was named the

Big East Player of the Year The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the men's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. It was first awarded at the end of the league's inaugural sea ...

. UConn entered the Big East tournament in March on a six-game winning streak. DeBerry was ruled out for the rest of the season after going into concussion protocol, and in the quarterfinals, Edwards suffered a broken nose. This left the Huskies with just seven players available for the rest of the Big East tournament. UConn went on to win the tournament anyway to clinch a berth in the NCAA tournament. It was their 11th straight conference tournament championship. Bueckers and Edwards were both named to All-American teams. In the NCAA tournament, UConn were the number three seed in their region. They won their first four games of the tournament with Bueckers named the most outstanding player of the region. In the Final Four, the

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference. She plays the point guard position. At Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was named a M ...

-led Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Huskies; the game was watched by a college basketball record 14.4 million viewers on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. UConn finished the season with an overall record of 33–6 and were ranked #3 in the final AP and Coaches polls. Afterward, Edwards and Mühl were selected in the

2024 WNBA draft The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2024 season, following the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, was held on April 15, 2024, the 29th draft in WNBA history. The draft took place at the Brooklyn ...

. Mühl finished her UConn career as the program's all-time assists leader.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style="", Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - , - !colspan=12 style=, Big East tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

Player statistics

Awards and honors

* Paige Bueckers **

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

first-team All-American **

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

first-team All-American"USBWA Unveils 2023-24 Women's All-America Team"
sportswriters.net. March 19, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024. **

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

All-American"Caitlin Clark wins second Wade Trophy, headlines 2024 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America team"
wbca.org. April 4, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024. **

** First-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

** Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player * Aaliyah Edwards ** United States Basketball Writers Association second-team All-American ** Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American ** First-team All-Big East * Ashlynn Shade ** Big East Freshman of the Year ** Big East All-Freshman Team * Nika Mühl ** Second-team All-Big East * KK Arnold ** Big East All-Freshman Team * Geno Auriemma ** Big East Coach of the Year

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 UConn Huskies women's basketball team UConn Huskies women's basketball seasons

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four seasons