UConn Women's Basketball Dominates Cornell 100-35 in Season Opener

Cornell led the UConn women’s basketball team for exactly 93 seconds early in Monday’s season opener before the Huskies unleashed a dominant defensive onslaught to secure a 100-35 victory at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, CT Insider reported.

The Big Red held a brief early advantage before UConn responded with a furious 21-0 run, blanking the visitors for nearly seven minutes. By the time the second quarter was three minutes old, the Huskies had ballooned their lead past 30 points, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Monday’s lopsided outcome marks UConn’s 31st consecutive season-opening win and stands as the program’s largest opening-night victory since an 80-point rout of Holy Cross on November 14, 2010. The Huskies now hold a 45-8 all-time record in season openers, including a 38-4 mark under head coach Geno Auriemma. The program’s last defeat in a season opener occurred on November 19, 1995, in an overtime loss to Louisiana Tech.

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For Auriemma, the blowout offered a valuable final dress rehearsal to experiment with rotations and tighten defensive schemes before an upcoming stretch of elite competition. Beginning Thursday with a matchup against No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Huskies face four consecutive top-20 opponents, with eight of their next nine games slated against ranked foes.

“They even celebrated like they won a national championship. That’s when we knew that it’s never going to be the same, you know,” Auriemma said, reflecting on the longevity of the program’s opening-night expectations. “You go into every season opener with the same level of, ‘Hey, I’m excited to see what we have. I’m anxious to see what it looks like.’”

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While Sarah Strong and Jovana Popovic paced the offense with 19 points apiece, UConn’s suffocating full-court pressure stole the spotlight. The Huskies forced Cornell into 29 turnovers, converting those mistakes into 43 points. UConn finished the night with 25 steals, coming just two shy of the program’s single-game record. Strong led the defensive charge with a career-high eight steals, seven of which came before halftime.

“Pressing is a funny thing,” Auriemma noted regarding the high-energy defensive scheme. “You really have to get tremendous buy-in from the players, and they have to have a certain mindset, a certain identity as a team, and the worst thing that a team can do is press half-assed because you just get exposed and you just look embarrassing out there.”

UConn Women's Basketball Dominates Cornell 100-35 in Season Opener — Photo: thehour.com

Auriemma utilized many of his available players to experiment with lineups during the game. By the time the clock wound down to under six minutes in the fourth quarter, 11 different Huskies had entered the scoring column.

The opener also featured the return of key contributors who missed the preseason due to injuries. Blanca Quiñonez, recovering from May shoulder surgery, played 15 minutes under a minute restriction and contributed four points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Meanwhile, Marine Dursus made her collegiate debut with 11 points—shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc—alongside two steals and an assist in 17 minutes of action.

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Redshirt sophomore Morgan Cheli was the lone active roster member who did not suit up. Auriemma described her status as day-to-day.

The matchup served as the opening half of a basketball doubleheader at PeoplesBank Arena, which also featured the UConn men’s team hosting Gardner-Webb later that evening.