After 12 national championships under legendary coach Geno Auriemma, is there anything the UConn women's basketball team hasn't done? 

Actually, yes.

When the No. 1-ranked Huskies open the season Tuesday night against No. 20 Louisville, they will become the first two women's teams to play in the Armed Forces Classic, an event designed to take top-notch teams to U.S. service members.

The game was set to be played at Ramstein Air Base in Germany but was relocated to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. With Ramstein working with just a skeleton staff because of the federal government shutdown, the base couldn't accommodate the game.

No matter the location, the Huskies are delighted to take part.

“It would have been a really cool experience for the entire program,” Auriemma said after a recent practice. “But we live in a strange world right now. The alternative is pretty darn good, though. To be at a place like the U.S. Naval Academy is pretty special. If that’s a consolation prize, I feel pretty good about it.”

And then there's this other first, as reported by ESPN Insights: 

UConn is No. 1 in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll for the 13th time – the most ever. They had been tied at 12 with Tennessee.

Here's a look at the 2025-26 season for the defending champ Huskies.

The UConn File

2024-25 Record: 37-3 (18-0 Big East); defeated South Carolina to win NCAA Tournament

NCAA Championships: 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2025

Head Coach: Geno Auriemma (41st season), 1250-165 (88.3%) record 

Familiar Faces

Even non-UConn fanatics probably know the names and faces of Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, who joined Paige Bueckers last season to make up a Big Three for the Huskies as they won the NCAA Tournament.

Strong had a breakout season as a freshman, being named a second-team All-American after starting all 40 games. A 10-time Big East Freshman of the Week and a three-time conference Player of the Week, she led team in rebounds (356), blocks (66) and steals (92) and was second on team in points (657) and assists (142).

She has replaced Bueckers as the face of the UConn program, and she enters the season with huge expectations. She was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year and a preseason All-American.

Fudd, a grad student, was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in April to cap off a terrific season in which she averaged 13.8 points per game on 44.6% from 3-point range and 90.9% from the free-throw line in 32 appearances.

The Huskies had little turnover in the offseason. They lost seniors Bueckers, Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin, and Qadence Samuels transferred to North Carolina State.

New Faces

Head coach Geno Auriemma and his staff have welcomed three freshmen onto the packed roster: 6-foot-2 forward Bianca Quinonez from Ecuador, the first South American to play for UConn; 5-9 guard Kelis Fisher, whose hometown is Baltimore; and, adding to the international flair, 6-5 center Gandy Malou-Mamel, the first player from Ireland in the program. .

Quinonez has extensive international experience, playing on Ecuador’s senior national team, as well as in Italy’s Serie A1 league and in the EuroCup Women.

She begins the season listed as day-to-day with a left shoulder injury sustained in practice.

As for Fisher, she won the Chipotle National Championship with IMG Academy in 2025, scoring 25 points in the title game.

Malou-Mamel played at Gill St. Bernard’s in Gladstone, N.J., and averaged 17.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game as a senior in 2024-25.

And even though 6-2 forward Ayanna Patterson appeared in 30 games for the Huskies in the 2022-23 season, let’s call her a new face to the program, too. She missed the past two seasons, first to patellar tendinitis in her left knee, then to a dislocated left shoulder. A redshirt sophomore, she has three seasons of eligibility remaining.  

New Places

Two transfer players joined the Huskies, returning to their East Coast roots.

The first is 6-4 senior forward Serah Williams, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and spent the past three seasons at Wisconsin. In each of the past two seasons, she was named All-Big Ten First Team and Big Ten All-Defensive Team, adding conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023-24.

This past season with the Badgers, she averaged a team-high 19.2 points per game along with 9.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.

Another New Yorker, Kayleigh Heckel, transferred to UConn from a Big Ten program – USC. The 5-9 guard played in 34 games (seven starts) and averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 2024-25.

She also won gold at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup, starting every game. She averaged 9.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals.

 Seen on Social Media

2025-26 Roster

No.       Player                                         Pos.            Year                               Height                 Hometown

2           KK Arnold                               F                   Jr.                                     5-9              Germantown, Wis.

4           Bianca Quinonez                 F                   Fr.                                    6-2               Milagro, Ecuador

7           Kelis Fisher                             G                  Fr.                                    5-9               Baltimore

8           Jana El Alfy                            C                  R-So.                              6-5               Cairo

9           Kayleigh Heckel                   F                   So.                                   5-9               Port Chester, N.Y.

11          Allie Ziebell                             G                  So.                                   6-0               Neenah, Wis.

12         Ashlynn Shade                      G                  Jr.                                     5-10             Noblesville, Ind.

21         Sarah Strong                         F                   So.                                   6-2               Durham, N.C.

22         Serah Williams                     F                   Sr.                                    6-4               Brooklyn, N.Y.

23         Morgan Cheli                       C                  So.                                   6-2               Los Altos, Calif.

25         Ice Brady                                F                   R-Jr.                                6-3               San Diego

33         Caroline Ducharme           G                  R-Sr.                               6-2                Milton, Mass.

34         Ayanna Patterson               F                   R-So.                              6-2               Fort Wayne, Ind.

35         Azzi Fudd                               G                  Grad.                             5-11               Arlington, Va.

42         Gandy Malou-Mamel        C                  Fr.                                    6-5              Limerick, Ireland

2025-26 Schedule

Tuesday, Nov. 4                           vs. 20 Louisville *     5:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 9                             vs. Florida State       4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 12                   vs. Loyola Chicago  7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 16                           vs. Ohio State            Noon

Friday, Nov. 21                              vs. 13 Michigan *      8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 23                          vs. Utah *                    2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 30                          at Xavier                    2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 2                          at South Florida        5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 7                            vs. DePaul                   1 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 13                        at 18 USC                   5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 17                   vs. Marquette           7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 20                       vs. 21 Iowa *               1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 28                         at Butler                      4 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 31                  at Providence           3 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 3                               vs. Seton Hall            Noon

Tuesday, Jan. 7                           vs. St. John's              1 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 11                         vs. Creighton *         2 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 15                   vs. Villanova             7 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 19                           vs. 15 Notre Dame   5 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 22                  vs. Georgetown *     7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 25                       at Seton Hall            Noon

Tuesday, Jan. 28                         vs. Xavier                 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 1                           vs. 8 Tennessee      Noon

Tuesday, Feb. 4                           at DePaul                 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 7                               vs. Butler                  Noon

Tuesday, Feb. 11                          vs. Creighton           7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 14                             at Marquette            1 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 18                          at Villanova              7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 22                        vs. Providence         Noon

Wednesday, Feb. 26                   vs. Georgetown       7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 1                       vs. St. John's *         TBD

* Game played at neutral location