‘She expects way more:’ UConn star Sarah Strong on pace for record-breaking sophomore season

Just six games into the 2025-26 season, UConn women’s basketball star Sarah Strong already has a lengthy highlight reel.

There were her back-to-back buckets to halt Louisville’s fourth-quarter comeback in the season opener. Then the quarterback-esque pass down the length of the court to Serah Williams against Ohio State. How about a clutch layup in the final seconds against Michigan that gave the Huskies just enough cushion to hold off Syla Swords’ late run.

But Azzi Fudd‘s favorite Sarah Strong play so far, which came in the second quarter of the Ohio State game on Nov. 16, didn’t show up anywhere in the final box score.

“Did you guys see her dive on the floor today?” Fudd asked postgame, grinning over at the sophomore sitting next to her. “That was incredible.”

After the Huskies’ 100-68 win over the Buckeyes, coach Geno Auriemma called out the play, too. With UConn ahead by 11, Strong — who finished the game with 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and three blocks — saw Ohio State star Jaloni Cambridge lose her handle and immediately launched herself at full speed into the play to force a held ball. The moment reminded Auriemma immediately of some of UConn’s all-time greats.

“That’s the kind of competitor she is,” Auriemma said. “You saw her dive on that loose ball in front of our bench, right? I have videos of Diana (Taurasi) doing that, of Maya (Moore) doing that, (Breanna Stewart) doing that. She’s a great player who doesn’t treat herself like, ‘That’s not my job, that’s somebody else’s job.’ (Her) job is to score points, and yet there she is. So I’m just really proud of her right now.”

Strong is on pace for one of the greatest sophomore seasons in UConn history through the first six games, which is no small feat considering the number of current and future Hall of Famers who have come through Storrs.

Strong currently leads the Huskies in every major stat except scoring, averaging 18.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, five assists, three steals and 2.7 blocks per game. If she maintains those numbers through a 40-game season (including the Big East and NCAA tournaments), she would break the program’s sophomore records for rebounds and steals and rank second all-time in points, assists and blocks.

No other UConn sophomore even ranks top 10 in all five categories, and only Moore — who won the Naismith Trophy as a sophomore in 2009 — has her name on four of the five leaderboards.

“Not that I didn’t think she could get better, but she was so good last year that it’s like, how could she possible be better? And she is even better this year,” Fudd said. “I feel like the confidence in her ability and just owning space, you can feel it. … She really is involved in every play. Offensively, defensively, whether it’s scoring or making a great pass, she’s always involved.”

It’s no surprise to anyone that Strong is dominating in her second collegiate season after the impression she made as a freshman. Strong was essential to UConn’s national championship run, breaking the NCAA Tournament record for points scored by a freshman that was previously set in 1998 by Tennessee legend Tamika Catchings. She set the Huskies’ program record for rebounds by a freshman and cracked the top five all-time in points, assists, steals and blocks.

“You can tell when you see a player in high school what kind of skills they possess and what kind of temperament they have on the court,” Auriemma said after Strong had her third double-double of the year against Michigan. “I always knew this was going to happen for Sarah. Nobody knows if it’s gonna happen like it happened in the NCAA Tournament last year or like it’s happening now, but you always knew it was there.

“We can play differently defensively when she’s in the game than we can when we have a traditional big in the game. We can play completely differently offensively, because we can put her anywhere on the floor and we’re good.”

Strong’s physical skillset is remarkable, but her real superpower may be how unbothered she seems by her own stardom. When she brought down a career-high 20 rebounds to lead the Huskies in their 72-69 win over No. 6 Michigan on Friday, the sophomore’s reaction was earnest indifference.

“I mean, yeah. I was just rebounding,” Strong said with a shrug, like she couldn’t understand why the stat was noteworthy. “I’m not really thinking about it. I don’t know, just right place, right time.”

But Strong’s nonchalance isn’t because she doesn’t care — quite the opposite. The sophomore isn’t impressed by greatness because it’s simply the standard she holds herself to. Video game numbers are just Strong doing her job, and Auriemma said sometimes he has to remind himself that she’s still human.

“As coaches we just kind of shake our heads, and even in practice we almost want her to be perfect. It’s not fair, but I wouldn’t ask her to be if I didn’t think she could,” Auriemma said. “You try to temper it, like should I expect way more? But they expect way more of themselves. That’s what I would say right now about Sarah. Whatever she expected from herself last year, which was probably a lot, she expects way more of herself this year.”