Storrs — KK Arnold She wasn’t the leading scorer on the intercollegiate women’s basketball team. villanova But she was the soul of the 99-50 rout at Gampel Pavilion.

Maybe it was the hug Arnold gave her before the game. moriah jeffersonher favorite Huskies player of all time, or perhaps just the extra motivation of performing in front of so many legendary alumni who attended the program’s 2015 and ’16 NCAA Championship 10-year reunion. But every time UConn needed inspiration against the Wildcats, it came from the junior point guard.

“Kids come in two forms: kids who give energy and kids who suck energy. She’s an energy giver,” coach Geno Auriemma said after the game. “You can power through her. She’s like a battery and everyone else feeds off of that. Every team needs that and she inspires others to be like that too.”

Arnold’s most game-changing moment came midway through the second quarter when Villanova was leading 10-0. The team struggled on both ends of the floor, allowing four turnovers in 3 1/2 minutes and forcing the Wildcats to make four consecutive field goals after making just four attempts the entire game up until that point.

But after Villanova finally missed a 3-point shot, Arnold took matters into his own hands by bringing the ball up the floor. She danced in the paint for a layup, ending her team’s scoring crisis. Then she knocked the steal out of the Wildcats star’s hands Jasmine Bascoe What she gave to the red shirt senior Aji Fad With a quick 3-point shot, he once again extended University Con’s 20-point lead.

Arnold tied a season-best 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and tied a career-high with seven assists. She also added four steals with one turnover in 22 minutes on the court.

“I was asked by a TV person broadcasting the game who I think has improved the most so far, and I would say KK because of his court awareness, his confidence in himself and the way he carries himself from last season to now,” Auriemma said. “You’re not born with it. It’s something you put a lot of time into, and KK put in that time.”

star sophomore sarah strong He also had a great performance with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 blocks, and 3 steals, one rebound away from a double-double. Fudd added 14 points and two steals as a freshman. Blanca Quinones He scored in double figures for the eighth time in nine games, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, four rebounds and two steals.

With the win, the Huskies improved to 18-0 and 9-0 in Big East play.

Fudd opened the game with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, and by the end of the first quarter it looked like UW would escape with another big win. The Huskies forced nine turnovers, but held Villanova to just 3-of-15 from the field and shot 57 percent as a team. Bascoe, who averages nearly 18 points per game, started the game going 0-for-2 on 3-pointers, including one shot in the first inning.

But after leading 26-8 entering the second quarter, UConn’s offense suddenly fell into disarray. The team turned the ball over five times after allowing just two in the first inning, and while the Huskies remained efficient from the field, they struggled, hitting just 1-of-5 3-pointers. Villanova jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the second and stayed even at 19-19.

After the blunder, the Huskies regained their usual dominance from the halftime locker room. The Wildcats made an early 3-pointer to cut the lead to less than 20 points, but senior center selah williams He immediately started a hot streak for the Huskies with five straight points. Arnold then energized his team once again, making fast-break shots from the perimeter, forcing Bascoe for a steal and making a transition layup just 12 seconds into the game. After a 12-0 run, UConn never led by less than 24 points for the rest of the game.

The Huskies forced a season-worst 26 turnovers against Villanova, resulting in 36 points. The Wildcats shot just 30 percent from the field, but held the Wildcats to a season-worst 25 percent from 3-point range and a season-worst 27.7 percent from the field. Bascoe scored eight points in his second single-digit scoring game of the year, hitting a season-low 3-of-13 shooting.

“I’m surprised we were able to defend like we did today against a team that is difficult to defend,” Auriemma said. “I think our communication defensively was the best we’ve had all season. After the game, I could hear everyone on the bench and tell them how they communicated and how they helped each other. … I think it was a pretty complete game for us both physically and mentally.”

Auriemma went deep behind the bench in the fourth quarter, as he has done in every Big East game thus far, and all 11 players who saw the floor scored. The UW prep team scored a total of 39 points and outscored Villanova 23-6 in the final frame.

“A lot of times that group loses in the fourth quarter and they kind of drop everything we’ve been working on and it’s like, ‘Oh, this is my chance to show the coach and remind him how good I am,’” Auriemma said. “I think we really had a plan today. We knew what we wanted to do. We knew how we wanted the ball. And we played like a really good team in the fourth quarter. That doesn’t happen very often.”

As the university approaches 10 years since its fourth consecutive championship, can the 2025-26 Huskies end the drought?