The 2021-22 women’s basketball season ended more than a month and a half ago, which means we’re now about six months away from the start of next season.
UConn women basketball players are staying off campus, visiting family and spending time off the court until they report to Storrs for summer training on June 1. Geno Auriemma has spent his time away from coaching traveling and recruiting. This week he caught up with fans at local breweries as part of UConn’s Coaches Road Show.
While the program has yet to release official dates and times for its 2022-23 schedule, we do know of a handful of its non-conference matchups for the coming year.
Here’s a first look at what we know about UConn’s planned opponents for 2022-23:
November 25-27, Phil Knight Legacy College Basketball Tournament: The Huskies will make their debut at the annual Phil Knight tournament, created in honor of the Nike co-founder, this Thanksgiving weekend in Portland, Oregon. This fall, for the first time, women’s teams will take part in the tournament, which began in 2017.
While the official bracket of the two-day tournament has yet to be released, UConn could face Kara Lawson-coach Duke, Caitlin Clark-led Iowa and Oregon State. Rip City Management of the Portland Trail Blazers will host the women’s tournament at three venues: the University of Portland’s Chiles Center, the Moda Center (home of the Blazers), and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The tournament will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Huskies are 12-3 all-time against Duke, 2-0 against Oregon State and 5-2 against Iowa. UConn last faced the Hawkeyes in the 2021 Sweet 16, winning 92-72
Rematch with NC State: UConn will begin a home-and-home series with NC State next season and will host the Wolfpack this year before traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2023-24.
The Huskies are 7-2 all-time against NC State after last meeting in this year’s Elite Eight. The matchup was one for the books as it was the first double overtime Elite Eight game in NCAA women’s tournament history. UConn edged NC State 91-87 in Bridgeport, despite losing Dorka Juhász in the second quarter due to a season-ending wrist injury. The win propelled UConn into the Final Four for the 14th year in a row.
Drive to South Bend: As part of UConn’s four-year streak with Notre Dame, the old rivals will clash in Indiana next season.
The series was originally scheduled to start in the 2020/21 season but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the postponement, the series began last season when UConn hosted Notre Dame on December 5th. UConn won the game 73-54, but Paige Buckers suffered a broken tibia and a torn meniscus in the last minute and sat out the following 19 games.
UConn leads the all-time series against the Fighting Irish 39-13.
Rematch with South Carolina: UConn announced last summer that it was extending its streak with South Carolina for two more seasons through 2023-24.
The Huskies will host the Gamecocks next season before heading to Columbia next year. The two teams were scheduled for an out-of-conference matchup in the 2021-22 season, but canceled the game due to scheduling conflicts.
South Carolina defeated UConn in the national championship game in April, giving the Huskies their first title game loss. The Gamecocks also defeated UConn in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game last Thanksgiving.
UConn is 9-3 all-time against South Carolina.
The Rivalry: The Huskies will wrap up their recent home-and-home series against their most historic rival, Tennessee, in Knoxville this season.
After a 13-year hiatus from the series, the two schools have renewed their rivalry and have faced each other every season since 2020.
UConn defeated the Lady Vols at XL Center last February. Debuting their new Throwback jerseys, the Huskies were led by Azzi Fudd with 25 points, four assists, four rebounds and 7-of-9 shots from 3-pointers. UConn is 16-9 all-time against Tennessee.
Great East Shale: The 2022-23 season will be UConn’s third year back in the Big East after spending seven years in the American Athletic Conference. While the Huskies have remained the top-ranked team in the conference for the past two seasons, Villanova handed the program its first conference loss since 2013 at the XL Center in February.
Mohegan Sun will complete his three-year deal with Big East this season and host the conference women’s basketball tournament for the third straight year.