UConn Leads Big East in Every Major Category
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Defense has quietly become the backbone of an unbeaten run in Storrs. The Huskies are sitting on a 12-0 record, and their defensive stats are as interesting as their run this season. UConn has 14.8 steals per game, opponents turning the ball over 23.6 times a night, and a +36.8 scoring margin.
That pressure isn’t coming from one player or one matchup either. It’s relentless and now defining the Big East race. Not so long ago, the Big East released a list of the top 5 players in steals, and three UConn players rank on it.
Sarah Strong leads the conference with 3.5 steals per game. Her best defensive stretches often align with UConn’s biggest runs. Against Iowa, she had six steals to go with 23 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, she made five steals against DePaul, six more at Xavier, and multiple games with three or more while still anchoring the glass.
Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold tied for fourth at 2.3 steals per game. Fudd has been disruptive this season. In the game against Iowa, Fudd added four steals to a 27-point night. She also had five steals against Loyola, turned in four steals versus DePaul, and has consistently pressured guards into rushed decisions.
With 18.5 points per game on nearly 50 percent shooting, Fudd’s defense has become quite the storyline this season. Then there is Arnold, who has been just as valuable on the defense. Arnold had a five-steal performance at Xavier and three-steal games against USC and South Florida while averaging 4.6 assists.
Rounding out the top five are Savannah Catalon at 2.9 and Alayna West at 2.5. However, no other team in the Big East has as many players as UConn in the top 5. This season, the Huskies no longer have a player like Paige Bueckers around whom the defense revolves.
Instead, this season, Geno Auriemma has a team that pressures and overwhelms its opponents. Perhaps that's why opponents average just 52.9 points per game and score only 10.4 points off turnovers compared to UConn’s 33.7. However, that’s not all, UConn tops the Big East in blocks, rebounds, points, and more.
UConn Sets Big East Standard in Points, Assists, Rebounds Too
UConn also places two players in the top five in scoring. Fudd tops the list with 18.5 points, and Strong is second with 18.3 points. Jasmine Bascoe is third with 18.2, Skylar Forbes is fourth with 16.8, and Mariyah Noel is fifth with 15.7 points in Big East scoring.
On the glass, Strong again leads at 8.4 rebounds per game. And in ball movement, KK Arnold and Strong rank among the conference’s top assist leaders at 4.6 per game, underscoring how defensive chaos becomes offensive clarity.
Rebound leaders 💪 pic.twitter.com/h1Ub1RGcaD
— BIG EAST WBB (@BIGEASTWBB) December 23, 2025
Strong also leads the Big East in blocks at 1.9 per game, narrowly ahead of Skylar Forbes at 1.8, setting the defensive ceiling at the top of the conference. Behind them, Savannah White sits at 1.6, Brooke Moore at 1.3, and Kennedy Henry at 1.3.
As a team, UConn averages 89.8 points, 39.8 rebounds, and 24.0 assists per game, all while forcing more turnovers than any opponent can withstand over four quarters. That balance is what travels, and it’s what makes the next match so intriguing.
UConn heads to Hinkle Fieldhouse to face the Butler Bulldogs, a matchup the Huskies have controlled historically, winning all eight meetings with an average of 91 points per game.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.