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It might sound unbelievable, but UConn is currently riding a 42-game winning streak. Ever since last February’s loss to Tennessee, the Huskies have barely remembered what defeat feels like. They now sit at 26–0 this season and are on the verge of completing another unbeaten regular season.

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Standing between UConn and continued perfection are the Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette has dropped its last two games and now faces its biggest challenge yet. It will be only the third time in program history that the Golden Eagles host the nation’s top-ranked team, making the moment even bigger.

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UConn vs Marquette: Where to watch

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Venue: Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Watch on: FS1
Streaming: Fubo

UConn vs Marquette: Injury list

UConn Huskies

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  • Blanca Quinonez – QUESTIONABLE
  • Ice Brady – OUT
  • Morgan Chelli – OUT

Marquette Golden Eagles

  • Olivia Porter – OUT
  • J.J. Barnes – OUT
  • Aryelle Stevens – OUT

Probable Starting Lineup

UConn Huskies

  • Sarah Strong
  • Serah Williams
  • Ashlynn Shade
  • KK Arnold
  • Azzi Fudd

Marquette Golden Eagles

  • Charia Smith
  • Halle Vice
  • Jaidynn Mason
  • Kennedi Perkins
  • Lee Volker

Prediction: Can Marquette Pull Off the Upset?

A win over Marquette on Saturday would tie UConn with South Carolina’s 2023–24 team for the seventh-longest streak in Division I history at 43 straight victories. That Gamecocks run ended with a national championship and the first unbeaten title season since UConn’s own perfect campaign in 2016, something Huskies supporters would gladly welcome again.

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UConn welcomed Sarah Strong back after she missed the Butler game, and although she had a brief scare midway through the matchup against Creighton, she appears set to play against Marquette. That is only good news for the Huskies, who will enter the game as clear favorites.

Since their Dec. 17 defeat to UConn, 89–53, the Golden Eagles have gone 9–5 and sit fourth in the Big East standings. To make matters worse, they enter this matchup on a two-game skid after losses to Creighton in overtime and Seton Hall on Wednesday, making the challenge against UConn even steeper.

Expectations were high for Marquette, which began the season as the only Division I women’s team bringing back its full roster from 2024–25. Unfortunately, injuries to J.J. Barnes, Aryelle Stevens, and, most recently, starting guard Olivia Porter have kept the Golden Eagles from reaching their true ceiling.

As a result, we don’t see Marquette posing a serious challenge to UConn with a modest 16–9 record. ESPN seems to agree, giving the Huskies a 99 percent chance of winning, which feels fair considering their statistical dominance over the Golden Eagles.

The Huskies are averaging 90 points per game while holding opponents to just 50.3, whereas the Golden Eagles score 69.8 and allow 62.8 per night, a clear reflection of the gap in quality between the two teams.

It is pretty clear who we think the favorites are. Who do you have winning? Let us know in the comments below.

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Akash Das

1,369 Articles

Akash Das is an NCAA and WNBA Writer at EssentiallySports, where his bylines dive deep into the structural side of basketball. With a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a Master’s in Sports Business & Management from the University of Liverpool, he grounds every feature in strong reporting fundamentals and academic rigor. His coverage tracks how coaching blueprints, roster construction, and roster moves, from the NCAA transfer portal to WNBA free agency, shape outcomes on the court. His sharp breakdowns at the WNBA desk earned him a spot in the outlet’s prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, putting him among ES’ most trusted voices on basketball. Beyond box scores, Akash is driven by the bigger picture: how programs are built, maintained, and rebuilt in the NCAA pipeline, and how those systems intersect with the professional game. With experience across sports writing, research, and media strategy, he brings nuance to topics often overlooked in day-to-day highlights coverage. Whether examining the long-term vision behind a college program or the ripple effect of player mobility in the WNBA, Akash connects fans to the tactical and structural heart of the sport.

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