It’s been an underwhelming year for women’s hoops in the Big East, but the UConn women’s basketball team will get one last opportunity to earn a ranked win in the regular season against No. 20 Creighton on Monday.
The No. 15 Huskies (22-5, 14-0 Big East) dominated the Bluejays (21-3, 12-2) in their first meeting on Jan. 3, leaving Omaha, Neb., with a 94-50 win behind 24 points from Paige Bueckers and four of five starters scoring at least 15. Creighton remains the No. 2 team in the Big East, responding to the UConn loss with 11 consecutive wins, but the Bluejays haven’t dominated lesser competition the way the Huskies have. They beat a struggling Marquette by just five points and also escaped Seton Hall and Georgetown with single-digit victories.
Meanwhile, UConn dispatched then-No. 18 Marquette at home on Dec. 31 and again on the road Jan. 23, winning both matchups by 25-plus points. The Huskies’ closest game against a Big East opponent was a 78-63 win over St. John’s on Feb. 4, and they have won eight of 13 conference games by 30 or more.
“I still feel like the sky is the limit. We have everything we need,” Bueckers said. “It’s just about us cleaning up our mental mistakes, us believing in ourselves. I know nobody thinks that we can win a national championship at this point, but I have a great faith as well, so I feel like with God, all things are possible … I’m not giving up on the season. I know some people have, but I’m still very excited for what this team can achieve.”
UConn is one of three top 25 teams currently undefeated in conference play, alongside No. 17 Gonzaga and No. 25 Princeton. Losses to No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 1 South Carolina punctuated the massive victories, but those don’t look as significant in the national picture as the Power 5 conferences continue to cannibalize themselves.
Ninth-ranked UCLA and No. 8 Colorado were upset by No. 11 Oregon State and No. 22 Utah, respectively, in the Pac-12 this week, while unranked Iowa State dethroned No. 7 Kansas State in the Big 12 in double overtime. The entire ACC has lost at least twice to conference opponents, as has every team behind No. 2 Ohio State in the Big Ten and undefeated South Carolina in the SEC.
“You see coaches now that are experiencing tremendous success for the very first time, and they see how hard it is to crank it out there every night when people are giving you their best shot,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Welcome to our world, right? And so (for us) to be able to hold up under those circumstances, it takes a lot of toughness.”
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With no top-15 wins and just two over currently ranked teams, UConn remains in a strong position for NCAA Tournament seeding thanks to its nation-leading strength of schedule. The Huskies debuted as a 3-seed at No. 12 in the selection committee’s first top-16 reveal, making them the highest-ranked five-loss team in the country. But being the final team on the 3 line means they would be practically guaranteed a rematch with South Carolina if they make the Elite Eight. The first reveal also projected UCLA as a 2-seed in UConn’s Albany 1 region, a nightmare pairing for the Huskies who have already lost to both teams by double-digits this year.
“There are some teams out there, if the matchups are bad, we could play our A game and not win and get knocked out. We could not play our best game and get knocked out by anybody, really,” Auriemma said. “The margin is so small. Everything would have to break right for us to go far in the tournament.”
Beating Creighton also guarantees UConn the No. 1 overall seed in the Big East tournament, which comes with a desperately needed first-round bye. The Huskies didn’t get a true bye week because they scheduled South Carolina and Notre Dame during conference play, and they need all the extra rest they can get with just nine healthy players and a six- to seven-player rotation.
Auriemma still believes UConn was snubbed by the committee as 2-seed in the 2023 tournament when six-loss Stanford landed the final No. 1, and that makes Monday’s matchup even more important than a typical Big East game. Winning is the first priority, but adding another ranked blowout to the resume could certainly be enough to bump the Huskies into a more favorable bracket position as other top teams struggle in conference.
“I just hope we make the NCAA Tournament, because the way people are talking about us it’s like our season should end after the Big East tournament,” Auriemma quipped Thursday before the reveal. “I didn’t believe them when they said we were a two-seed (last year). We should have been a one with our strength of schedule and how many teams we beat that were in the top 20. But what do I know? All we can do is … win Monday and let the chips fall where they may.”
How to watch
Site: XL Center, Hartford
Time: Noon; Monday
Series: UConn leads 8-0
Last meeting: UConn, 94-50 on Jan. 3 in Omaha, Nebraska
TV: FOX
Streaming: FOXsports.com; FOX Sports app
Radio: UConn Sports Network on Fox Sports 97.9