The Longhorns and the Huskies faced off in a Top-5 matchup Monday in Storrs, Connecticut, after each team came off a win in their first games of the 2022 season. The Huskies came out on top 83-76 against the Longhorns, who fell to 1-1 on the young season.

The Longhorns have never beaten the Huskies in nine matchups since the first time the teams met in 2003. Now, the series stands at 0-10 with Texas’ first loss of the season.

The University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team has won 11 national championships, including four in a row from 2013-16, and has the second most wins in NCAA Division I women’s college basketball at over 1,200. 

Lou Lopez Sénéchal, a 6-foot-1-inch forward for the Huskies, was looking for revenge tonight against the Longhorns. The former Fairfield Stag’s career ended with a 52-70 loss to Texas last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Lopez had a double-digit game with 12 points and one rebound, helping her team get the win she was looking for. 

Texas led by one point 19-18 after the first quarter, and the first half was a battle between the two teams with eleven lead changes. With a strong level of intensity from the start, the atmosphere at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion was electric and felt more like a March game than the beginning the season.

Graduate student guard Shaylee Gonzales had to step in for injured sophomore Rori Harmon, an AP Preseason All-American honorable mention. Harmon is a key part of helping slow the game down for Texas, which was evident in her absence tonight.

UConn led Texas 42-37 at the half but carried all of the momentum toward the end of the second quarter, forcing multiple turnovers and outscoring Texas 14-2 off fastbreak points. 

Sonya Morris, a senior transfer from DePaul, had her first double-figure scoring game for the Longhorns with 21 points, and she was a huge factor in keeping Texas alive against the Huskies.

Texas had multiple turnovers which allowed UConn to pull away from the tight game, taking a 63-51 lead after the third quarter. The Huskies continued to capitalize on their momentum, dominating in the fourth quarter. Azzi Fudd, the Huskies’ sophomore guard from Arlington, Virginia, was a problem for Texas. She alone scored 32 points against the Longhorns.

Ultimately, the game came down to which team had better ball control and which team was more aggressive on the boards. Texas was outrebounded 26-34, allowing UConn to capitalize on second chance points.

Up next for the Longhorns is a trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis early season tournament, which begins Saturday with a matchup against Marquette.