Geno Auriemma did not spend Monday night talking about scorelines. Paige Bueckers is long gone, UConn is rebuilding, and the exhibition against Texas was the first real look at who runs this team now. After the game, Auriemma reflected on the Huskies’ leadership and put one player in the spotlight.

“She’s [Sarah Strong] taking more ownership of the team,” Auriemma told the media.

A reporter had pointed out that it was Strong who was in the middle of the huddle, leading the team during the game.

“We don’t have a very talkative team on the court,” he added. “They use it all up on TikTok and whatever else they’re doing, but when they come on the court, they don’t speak very much. And so, someone has to take the lead. And Sarah, being who she is, I think her voice carries a lot of weight. I think she had it easy with Paige [Bueckers] and Kaitlyn Chen, and this year she’s taken more ownership, more responsibility…”

Auriemma was also happy about the fact that Strong’s opinion and leadership are being taken well by the rest of the team.

“The players listen,” he also said. “It’s good that she’s in the huddle, and there’s only one voice. Earlier on, it was like three or four voices, and it was really kind of jumbled up. But as time has passed these last couple of weeks, she’s very, very, very assertive and very intentional about who she’s talking to and what she’s saying. It’s not just ‘Come on, blue, come on white, we got to do this.’ You know, nobody’s named white or Blue on our team. So, she’s being very intentional.”

It’s good that Auriemma is focusing on the positives, as it was far from a perfect game. The lead changed hands over 10 times, with both teams locked in a slugfest where neither led by more than five points for the majority of the game.

Despite a 23-point effort from three-time All-American Madison Booker, Texas suffered second-half scoring woes in the 83–61 exhibition defeat.

According to UT head coach Vic Schaefer, Monday’s exhibition clash in Hartford was specifically coordinated to provide name, image, and likeness (NIL) financial benefits for athletes on both squads.

PeoplesBank Arena saw a tightly contested opening, with Texas and UConn entering halftime tied at 37 apiece. But the Huskies seized control out of the break, dominating the third quarter 19–8 to open up a lead that the Longhorns never managed to cut down for the rest of the game.

Vic Schaefer will not be impressed by the fact that despite his specific attention to foul trouble, Breya Cunningham fouled out with 6:49 left in the game.

Reigning AP Player of the Year Sarah Strong set the tone for UConn, dropping 27 points.

“Games like this, you can’t really replicate in practice,” Strong said. “It’s the battle on the court; we’ve got to figure it out. Whatever happens, offensively, defensively, we’ve got to stay together. We did a good job of that today,” said Strong after the game.

However, it was one other player who held everyone’s attention with her display.

Jovana Popovic Already Impressing With Her Display

It’s rare for a player to attract this much attention in the preseason, but that is exactly what has happened with Jovana Popovic.

The Serbian playmaker turned heads Monday with a dynamic 22-point, seven-rebound, five-assist performance. She did make a handful of unforced errors that inflated the team’s turnover tally, but Popovic’s offensive rhythm set the tone: logging 37 minutes, she went a surgical 7-of-11 from the field, including a spotless 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Following this trip, the Longhorns will host the Orange-White Scrimmage at Moody Center on Wednesday evening. Texas then shifts just north to the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park on Sunday for an exhibition clash against defending national champion UCLA.

UConn will wrap up its preseason schedule by hosting Army Black Knights for its final preseason game on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 4:00 PM ET at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.