December rarely offers much breathing room in college basketball, and Geno Auriemma knows that better than most. With exams, holidays, and conference play all colliding, the UConn head coach is once again staring down a familiar challenge: a relentless stretch of games packed tightly into the calendar.

Auriemma didn’t sugarcoat the reality when speaking to Storrs Central, offering a candid look at the logistical grind his team faces in the coming weeks. From quick turnarounds to early tip-offs, the schedule leaves little margin for rest—but that’s exactly how he prefers it.

“Well we have a we’re off from the 20th, we play the 20th, and then they have four days. We kind of play earlier than we have been. I think we play the 28th, maybe. something like that, which is kind of early relative to some other years but its kind of like this most years you have to cram a lot of games into a short period of time especially when you have exams going on, you got the holidays coming up, so it catches up but I like it that way I’d rather be doing that than just practicing,” said Auriemma casually before he gets his team ready for the USC Trojans.

The holiday week is indeed packed to the rafters, as UConn will not just have the festivities to keep itself occupied but also Marquette (18th December) and Iowa (20th December) to prepare for, and as the year draws to a close, they will play the last game of the year against Butler.

For someone who is on an unbeaten run, a few extra games in a week is not a worrying factor. The Huskies are running like a well-oiled machine (9-0), and every team that had the misfortune of stumbling across their path has perished.

From Louisville (79-66) to DePaul (102-35), their journey has not seen much resistance except for Michigan, which came quite close to shaking that confidence (72-69) but Azzi Fudd made two free throws and blocked a counter to seal the deal.

According to AP rankings, UConn is sitting at the top of the table with 791 points and leading the Big East Conference. Azzi Fudd is leading the fray on points (18.5), and Sarah Strong is in the other departments – rebounds (8.9), assists (3.1), steals (3.4), and blocks (1.9).

“Yeah, it certainly has changed most time you would get somebody to come out here and play two games but now they have to come out here not just to play two games, lets say us and someone else but they’ve got to also come out and play at Maryland, play at Rutgers and I don’t know that they are necessarily excited about playing us and a Conference game on the same trip, they’d probably rather play two Conference games which they normally do when they do travel and I don’t know if they are willing to add a third one.”

“So it has brought up some challenges that didn’t exist in the past. The whole realignment thing has really made it difficult for home and homes. You might be able to get these neutral court games where you play once, but in terms of home and homes, it’s gotten tougher,” said Geno Auriemma, totally aware of the realignment situation and the trouble that comes with it.

Earlier teams used to just go for away games and then return home with no added pressure, but now they also have to play non-conference games, which makes the entire process quite tedious and this goes for every team playing this season.

Can the Trojans Flip the Script on UConn?

With a packed schedule, fatigue is bound to set in, and could that lead to a major upset? As Geno Auriemma leads the Huskies to the opposition den in Los Angeles, this might be the perfect place for the Trojans’ coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, to set a trap.

With no travelling in store for the “Women of Troy” and a team well rested, that’s one area they can exploit to the fullest.

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The Trojans have some good players on their hands who can create problems for the unsuspecting visitors. Jazzy Davidson, for example, has been the star for USC. Be it the points (15.7), rebounds (7), assists (4.2), or blocks (2.3), she has stood out in every possible way. She could be the perfect answer to a problem like Azzi Fudd.

Kara Dunn (11,4 points) and Londynn James (11.1 points) might not come close to UConn’s Sarah Strong (17.9  points) but together they can pose a threat in the scoring department.

Interestingly, apart from these two Huskies players, none of the others have so far managed to break into the double-digit figures, so they have an advantage there.

Gottlieb might also not have a resume like Geno Auriemma but she has quite a lot of achievements in her 25-year-old coaching career- NCAA Regional Championship Final Four, Big Ten Coach of the Year 2025, Big Ten Regular Season Championship (2025), among others.

So you can be least assured she won’t make it easy for UConn.