Sarah Strong waited until the second half, then took over.
With UConn locked in a tie at halftime, Strong poured in 27 points and powered the Huskies past Texas 83-61 Monday night at PeoplesBank Arena. The exhibition turned into exactly what it was supposed to be: a heavy-duty preseason test between two Final Four programs, and UConn handled the final stretch with a sharper edge than the Longhorns.
Jovana Popovic was right there with her. The freshman from Serbia impressed again in her second start, filling up the stat sheet with 22 points, five assists, six rebounds and a steal.
She also committed five turnovers, but the production was impossible to miss. Popovic played 36 minutes and went 7 for 11 from the field, including 3 for 3 on 3-pointers and 5 for 6 at the line.
The first half was a back-and-forth grind. Neither team led by more than five, the lead changed hands 12 times and the game was tied five times.
Geno Auriemma wanted to see how Popovic would hold up against this level of pressure, and Texas made life uncomfortable for her. Even so, she knocked down both of her 3-point tries and had 12 points, four assists and four turnovers by halftime.
Texas stayed in it behind Madison Booker, who finished with 23 points, and Breya Cunningham, who had 12 before foul trouble slowed her down. The teams went into the break even at 37.
UConn changed the tone in the third quarter. The defense tightened, the pace shifted and Strong started finding her spots.
She scored 10 points in the period, while Olivia Vukosa broke loose for eight after managing just two in the first half. Popovic added another three to push UConn ahead 53-44 with three minutes left in the quarter, its largest margin to that point.
Later, after she collected a loose ball and attacked the lane for a finish, Popovic had 18 points and UConn was in control at the end of the quarter.
The Huskies cleaned up the sloppiness, too. After turning it over 11 times in the first half, they had only six giveaways after the break, and that swing helped separate the game.
Auriemma kept his starters on the floor most of the night, an indication of how seriously UConn treated the matchup. That was possible because recent rule changes have opened the door for Division I exhibition opponents, and the Huskies took advantage. Strong, Popovic and Ashlynn Shade all logged more than 30 minutes, with Shade adding 11 points.
Strong’s dominance carried into the fourth quarter. She scored early to stretch the lead to 18 and had 24 points at that stage before finishing with 27. The national player of the year in 2025-26 shot 12 for 21 from the floor and added three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
UConn’s final tune-up comes next Sunday against Army at Gampel Pavilion.
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Michigan State on Tuesday night in East Lansing will offer a more useful barometer than any preseason ballot ever could. UConn has spent the last few seasons building a standard that goes far beyond October rankings, and the real test is whether this group can turn the hype into something sturdier once the games count for real. Preseason polls can hint at potential, but they do not tell you whether a team is ready to handle the road that follows. [Read more 🡒]