UConn played its second preseason exhibition game and routed Texas 83-61. While Texas was able to keep things competitive in the first half, the Huskies under Geno Auriemma took control in the second half. The game saw UConn’s freshman star Allie Ziebell return from an ankle injury, and with two more players making progress, coach Auriemma revealed what he expects from his players if they want to stay in the rotation.

“It’s great that you have more people, and it’s also challenging because you have more people that want to play… So when players come back from being injured and doing rehab, they’ve got to be impressive in practice,” Auriemma told Nathan Canilao of The (Norwich) Bulletin.

“The guys that are already here in practice have to stay competitive and keep fighting for opportunities and minutes.

I think it’s going to be really interesting to see when we’ve got all of them, and they’re all kind of jockeying for position here. I think that can help your team an awful lot,” Auriemma said during the post-game press conference.

Allie Ziebell made her preseason debut against the Longhorns after missing UConn’s first preseason game against Syracuse last week due to an ankle injury.

Ziebell played a total of 21 minutes, and her confidence on the hardcourt didn’t make it seem like she was the freshman. Ziebell scored eight points, notched two rebounds, one block, and one steal.

However, the Huskies were down to 10 players for the game despite Ziebell’s presence. For now, Blanca Quiñonez and Marine Dursus (ankle) remain out of the lineup as they recover.

Quiñonez, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who shared the court with Sarah Strong last season, is recovering from a shoulder injury and may not play in the remaining preseason game against Army.

Marine Dursus, a freshman recruit from France who is part of UConn’s international scouting pipeline, is also in the same boat and is recovering from an ankle injury. Besides these two, UConn also scratched Morgan Cheli in their injury report ahead of the Texas game.

Auriemma said Cheli is “day-to-day.”

So, once the roster is back to full strength, Auriemma expects everyone to give it their best shot in their bid to remain part of the active lineup when the regular season starts.

However, despite the injuries, UConn managed to deliver another dominant performance after beating Syracuse 88–60. While these preseason exhibition games won’t affect anything in the regular season or influence postseason seeding, the game against Texas was more important than your regular preseason game.

Geno Auriemma explained why the game against Texas matters

While exhibition games give teams a chance to experiment with lineups and strategies without the stress of losing points, they are, at the end of the day, exhibitions. Often lower-ranked or even Division II teams go up against teams like UConn. Texas was far from a mismatch.

Texas was a Final Four team from last year, and among the toughest opponents UConn could’ve faced in a preseason game. The Longhorns showed exactly why when they finished the first half tied with UConn at 37-37.

For Auriemma, it was a glimpse of March Madness.

“March is going to come, and your goal is to play a team like Texas in March because that means you’re going pretty far in the tournament… So, getting a taste of that, getting a preview of that, is way better than watching on film and talking about it at practice,” Geno Auriemma said about the contest.

Huskies star agreed with her coach’s assessment that this was an experience for an October exhibition and not something they could’ve simulated during preseason training.

“I think games like this, you can’t really replicate in practice,” Strong said after the game.

Sarah Strong led the night with 27 points and, combined with Jovana Popovic, produced the relentless offense that gave UConn the win. Popovic scored 22 points, and the pair combined for 49 to the Huskies 83 points. UConn also showcased a huge improvement in shooting.

The Huskies shot just 3-of-22 in their win against Syracuse, but shot 53.6% from the field and 55.6 from three-point range against the Longhorns.

However, this preseason contest also revealed some of the weaknesses that Auriemma may want to work on before it becomes a potential problem during the regular season. UConn’s defense was impressive in the third quarter, holding Texas to 8 points while scoring 19. However, the Huskies committed 17 turnovers for the game. Texas had scored 14 points off of 11 turnovers in the first half.

Then again, this is why the game against Texas was so valuable. UConn will play its final preseason game against Army on Sunday.