It has been eight days since the Big East Conference released their conference schedule for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season. All 11 teams will play 18 conference games—they face eight opponents twice and the other two once—like they did last year.
A few road games caught my attention as I looked over the schedule, however. All of them have the same importance for the UConn women’s basketball team as their nonconference gauntlet away from home does. Even though the Huskies do not visit UBS Arena, they still make trips to multiple big-time environments.
UConn heads to the CHI Health Center and Amica Mutual Pavilion during a two-week window halfway through conference play. Both venues have provided challenges for the back-to-back national champion men’s team; they have gone 1-5 in those buildings since 2020. The struggles head coach Dan Hurley’s squad has faced should carry over into the women’s team’s contests.
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While the Creighton Bluejays will not be the Huskies’ first road foe in conference play, it will be just the team’s third true road test of the season. The first comes on December 12, when Connecticut tries to snap a two-game skid against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Even if it happens, silencing the Purcell Pavilion crowd might not prepare them enough for what awaits in Omaha, Nebraska.
The CHI Health Center Arena seats over 18,000 people for basketball games. Fans have filled at least 16,000 of those seats in each of the Creighton men’s team’s 31 home contests across the past two seasons. The Huskies’ clash with the women’s team on January 25, 2025, should not be that much different.
It will be a change from UConn’s previous trips to the Cornhusker State, though. The Huskies beat Creighton at the DJ Sokol Arena each of the past four years by an average margin of 30 points. Connecticut allowed no more than 56 points and never trailed in the second half in any of those four games.
Do not be surprised if the Bluejays score more than 60 against the Husky defense in a larger facility. Even without Emma Ronsiek, Creighton possesses a talented roster that can stay as close with UConn as they do on the road. If the Bluejays’ road grittiness reappears at home, they will have a legitimate shot at pulling off an upset.
The Huskies’ frontcourt, especially No. 1 recruit Sarah Strong, will likely face immense pressure from Creighton’s raucous crowd that day. Sophomore guard KK Arnold will want a better road performance than the one she had against the national champion South Carolina Gamecocks. How Connecticut’s younger stars handle the intimidating CHI Health Center atmosphere will determine if they remain undefeated versus the Bluejays.
The Providence Friars, meanwhile, aim to break a 30-year slide against the Huskies on February 9 at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Downtown Providence would have welcomed the two Big East charter schools in 2023 had weather not forced adjustments to the Friars’ men’s team’s schedule. If Mother Nature does not strike again, this will be the Friars’ first contest at the AMP since they faced the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2010.
Road teams usually have a difficult time beating Providence inside the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Last season marked only the first time since the 2017-18 campaign that the men’s team lost more than three home games.
Connecticut should be no stranger to hostile road environments by Super Bowl Sunday; this clash comes three days after a tilt with the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville.
People should not automatically count out head coach Erin Batth’s Friars just yet. The Huskies beat Providence by only 23 points at the 1,850-seat Alumni Hall in last year's regular season finale. During the Big East Tournament quarterfinals seven days later, the Friars held UConn in check for almost three quarters at Mohegan Sun Arena.
With most of that veteran core back, Providence can make this season’s home bout with UConn incredibly close. Playing the Huskies in downtown Providence could actually give the Friars the edge in the turnover battle for once. Connecticut usually plays unselfish basketball, but the AMP’s environment could force the team to commit several unforced errors.
Blocking out the noise the fans bring should help the Huskies in that regard. UConn has several veterans who have experience playing in hostile environments and can do just that. Paige Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin and Azzi Fudd alone are not afraid to take over games in front of capacity crowds.
Before either of those conference contests takes place, the Huskies return to the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. The Women’s National Basketball Association’s Washington Mystics and NBA G-League’s Capital City Go-Go both call the 4,000-seat facility home.
Connecticut has bested the Georgetown Hoyas there each of the past two years. The Huskies had to earn that first victory after the Hoyas pulled within four late in regulation. The plethora of opponents UConn faces on the road makes this game fly under the radar.
Make no mistake, though, the Huskies’ trip to the District of Columbia still remains important. Head coach Darnell Haney’s Hoyas play gritty and possess a lockdown defense. If fans sell out the Entertainment & Sports Arena, Georgetown could have a productive day quieting Connecticut’s offense.
The Huskies will have already faced hostile crowds in South Bend, Indiana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by January 11. The mental mistakes head coach Geno Auriemma’s team may suffer in either contest could rear their ugly heads against the Hoyas. Disciplined basketball should help UConn prevent those unforced errors from arising again.
Women’s basketball is growing in popularity; conference games in 15,000-seat arenas and WNBA expansion are prime examples of it. The Huskies are one of the nation’s most recognized programs, but playing in these venues should massively increase the conference’s overall exposure. Providence, Georgetown and national powerhouse Creighton will also benefit from this.
If they can keep their home games against Connecticut close, those schools and the Big East may start receiving the attention and respect they deserve.
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