UNCASVILLE — It took UConn women’s basketball star Sarah Strong less than five minutes in Sunday’s Big East Tournament semifinal to grab her fourth steal, breaking the Huskies’ program record for steals by a sophomore.
The Big East Player of the Year surpassed two-time All-American Moriah Jefferson with her 107th steal of the season, intercepting a pass from Creighton freshman Ava Zediker that she converted into a layup at the other end. By halftime, Strong tied a career high with six steals and also led the team in points, assists, rebounds and blocks.
Behind Strong’s spectacular performance, the No. 1 Huskies obliterated No. 5 Creighton 100-51 at Mohegan Sun Arena to advance to the Big East Championship game on Monday night against either Villanova or Seton Hall. Strong finished with a team-high 23 points shooting 9-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. She also added seven boards, four assists, six steals and three blocks.
UConn has reached its conference tournament final in 22 consecutive seasons and looks to defend its Big East Tournament title for the sixth year in a row. The Huskies face the winner of the second semifinal between 2-seed Villanova and 3-seed Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament championship Monday at 7 p.m.. The game will air exclusively on Peacock.
Sign up here to get UConn sports news straight to your inbox: UConn Alerts
All of UConn’s stars were spectacular in the blowout victory. Junior guard KK Arnold, who earned the first All-Big East honors of her career on Thursday, started 8-for-8 from the field and finished with 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting, setting a new career high against an NCAA opponent. Redshirt senior Azzi Fudd added 16 points going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers with six assists, becoming just the third player in program history to log at least 100 3-pointers and 100 assists in a single season.
The Huskies were hot from the moment the ball tipped off, beginning the game on back-to-back steals from senior center Serah Williams and Strong. The team was ahead by seven before Creighton scored its first points, forcing four turnovers and allowing a single field goal attempt during the opening run.
UConn was unstoppable from beyond the arc, going 8-for-10 in the first half with Fudd, Strong and Arnold shooting 100% on seven combined makes. The trio of first team All-Big East selections all scored in double digits and missed three shots between them before halftime.
The Huskies were outscored 8-2 through the first two minutes of the second quarter with Fudd and Strong both on the bench, but they immediately returned to dominance once the pair of superstars checked back in. They went on to outscore Creighton 23-5 over the following eight minutes to end the half with a 28-point lead.
Arnold added her second 3-pointer early in the third quarter, marking her first time connecting twice from the perimeter since a Dec. 20 win against Iowa. Her first miss of the game came more than four minutes into the second half on another 3-point attempt that just rimmed out.
As they did in the quarterfinal Saturday against Georgetown, almost all of UConn’s starters sat the fourth quarter, and the team got contributions from 11 of the 12 players who saw the floor. The Huskies’ reserves combined for 34 points, outscoring Creighton 18-13 in the final frame.
UConn’s 49-point win was its largest margin of victory in a Big East Tournament game since rejoining the conference in 2019-20, and its 100 points were the most it has ever scored in the Big East Tournament. The team finished shooting 57.1% from the field and went 14-for-22 on 3-pointers. It also logged 33 points off of 19 forced turnovers.