UConn women's 2023-24 non-conference schedule nearly complete
Apr. 12—Paige Bueckers, Nika Mühl, and Aaliyah Edwards will be the fourth-year seniors on the 2023-24 UConn women's basketball team.
The Huskies have a homecoming game set for Bueckers in Minnesota. UConn's summer three-country tour of Europe will start in Mühl's native Croatia and the Huskies have scheduled a game with Ball State, which has Mühl's younger sister, Hana, on its roster.
A homecoming game for Edwards in her native Canada is still a work in progress and will be the final piece of the puzzle that is UConn's 2023-24 non-conference schedule.
The school announced Tuesday that it will take part in the inaugural women's Cayman Islands Classic Nov. 24-25, an eight-team event that will feature two games against predetermined opponents. The Huskies will also host Dayton, coached by two-time national champion at UConn Tamika Williams-Jeter, to complete a three-game deal between the schools.
With the Big East schedule being cut from 20 to 18 games, the Huskies' non-conference schedule will total 13 games.
Five will be at home: Ball State, Dayton, Louisville, Maryland, and Notre Dame. Four will be on the road: Minnesota, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Texas. Neutral site games will be the two in the Cayman Islands, against North Carolina at Mohegan Sun Arena, and the Edwards homecoming game in Canada against an opponent and at a site to be determined.
Of note, Tennessee will not be on the schedule. The Huskies and Lady Vols have met the last four seasons with UConn sweeping the games to increase their series lead over their archrivals to 17-9.
The Huskies are hopeful to finalize a game for Edwards — a native of Kingston, Ontario — in Toronto as they did for Canadian Kia Nurse in 2017. Pittsburgh was a potential opponent for UConn but a coaching change with the Panthers in March caused a potential change in plans. Lance White has since been replaced by Tony Verdi, who was the coach at UMass.
The Cayman Islands Classic field includes reigning national champion LSU, 2023 NCAA tournament participants Virginia Tech and UCLA, reigning WNIT champion Kansas, along with Tulane, Virginia, and Niagara — which will have Enfield's Alyssa Rossignol as a freshman on its roster.
However, UConn is not expected to play either LSU with All-American and Final Four Most Outstanding Player Angel Reese or Virginia Tech, which advanced to its first Final Four in March and welcomes back All-American center Elizabeth Kitley.
The contest with Dayton is a make-up of a game cancelled in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UConn leads the series with the Flyers 4-0 with the last meeting a 75-37 win on Nov. 26, 2019.
Williams-Jeter, who won national championships at UConn as a player in 2000 and 2002, has faced the Huskies as an assistant coach at Ohio State. She will become the fourth former player for Geno Auriemma to be a head coach against her alma mater joining Jennifer Rizzotti (0-9 while at Hartford), Jamelle Elliott (0-15 while at Cincinnati), and Carla Berube (0-1 with Princeton).
The meeting with North Carolina will be the Huskies' first with the Tar Heels since 2012.
Bueckers' homecoming game is slated for Nov. 19 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. According to the Mühl sisters' father Darko, UConn and Ball State will play Dec. 6.
For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.
