University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Earn BIG EAST End-of-Season Honors
3/5/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK – UConn women's basketball sophomore forward Sarah Strong was named the 2025-26 BIG EAST Player and Defensive Player of the Year to headline the Huskies' BIG EAST end-of-season awards Thursday.
Forward Blanca Quiñonez was named the conference's Freshman and Sixth Woman of the Year. Strong and graduate student guard Azzi Fudd were unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team and are joined on the First Team by junior guard KK Arnold.
Quiñonez was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and junior guard Ashlynn Shade was tabbed All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention.
Strong and Arnold were selected to the All-Defensive Team, which is in its first season for the BIG EAST.
Head coach Geno Auriemma was selected as the BIG EAST Coach of the Year.
Strong leads the top-ranked Huskies in points, rebounds, blocks and steals this season. She ranks seventh nationally in steals (97), 15th in assist-turnover ratio (2.37) and 15th in field goal percentage (59.5). Strong is averaging 18.6 points per game on a .595/.407/.881 shooting split.
Strong ranks in the top five of the BIG EAST in numerous stat categories: second in scoring, third in rebounding, first in field goal percentage, fifth in assists, first in steals and second in blocks.
This is just the third time a played has earned BIG EAST Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season and the first time since 2001 (Nykesha Sales, UConn, 1997-98; Ruth Riley, Notre Dame, 2000-01).
Strong is the ninth sophomore to earn BIG EAST Player of the Year. This is the 21st time a Husky has earned BIG EAST Player of the Year and the eighth time a UConn player has won BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.
Quiñonez has had an immediate impact for the Huskies, ranking third on the team with 10.0 points per game while shooting 54.9%. She earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors seven times this season.
Quiñonez was unanimously selected to the All-Freshman Team. She is the 16th Husky to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. This is the fifth time a UConn player has been named BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year and the fifth time a freshman has earned the award.
Auriemma was named conference Coach of the Year for the 20th time in his career and 14th time in the BIG EAST. Under Auriemma, the Huskies finished the regular season undefeated in conference play for the 20th time in program history.
The Huskies set a program record for most conference wins in a season, going 20-0 in BIG EAST play. UConn won every BIG EAST game by double digits this season, outscoring league opponents by an average margin of +41.5 points per game.
Fudd is averaging a career-high 17.9 points per game on personal-best shooting percentages (.490/.451/.950). Fudd has already set single-season career highs in rebounds (80), assists (92) and steals (78).
Fudd ranks second nationally in three pointers made (96) and ninth in three-point percentage (45.1). Fudd was named the 2025-26 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.
Arnold has emerged as UConn's primary point guard as a junior. She is averaging 6.9 points, 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game this season while shooting 52.8%, Last season, she averaged 5.5 points, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 47.4%. Arnold ranks second nationally with a 3.97 assist-turnover ratio.
Shade returned to the starting lineup this season after earning Sixth Woman of the Year honors in 2024-25. She's averaging 8.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and has set single-season bests with 89 assists and 60 steals.
The Huskies (31-0, 20-0 BIG EAST) are the No. 1 seed in this weekend's BIG EAST Tournament at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. UConn will face either No. 8-seed Georgetown (13-16, 6-14) or No. 9-seed Butler (12-18, 6-14) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon on peacock/NBC Sports Network.
BIG EAST Player of the Year: Sarah Strong, UConn, So., F*
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year: Blanca Quiñonez, UConn, Fr., F
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year: Sarah Strong, UConn, So., F
BIG EAST Most Improved Player: Brynn McCurry, Villanova, Jr., F
BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award: Meg Newman, DePaul, R-Sr., F
BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year: Blanca Quiñonez, UConn, Fr., F
BIG EAST Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, UConn
BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Azzi Fudd, UConn, Gr., G
First Team
KK Arnold, UConn, Jr., G
Azzi Fudd, UConn, Gr., G*
Sarah Strong, UConn, So., F*
Ava Zediker, Creighton, Fr., G*
Skylar Forbes, Marquette, Jr., F*
Halle Vice, Marquette, Jr., G*
Sabou Gueye, Providence, Gr., G*
Savannah Catalon, Seton Hall, Jr., G*
Mariana Valenzuela, Seton Hall, Sr., F*
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova, So., G*
Second Team^
Blanca Quiñonez, UConn, Fr., F
Kate Novik, DePaul, Jr., G
Lee Volker, Marquette, Gr., G
Brooke Moore, St. John's, Jr., G
Brynn McCurry, Villanova, Jr., F
Mariyah Noel, Xavier, Jr., G
Honorable Mention
Ashlynn Shade, UConn, Jr., G
Grace Boffeli, Creighton, Gr., F
Sa'Mya Wyatt, St. John's, So., F
All-Defensive Team
KK Arnold, UConn, Jr., G
Sarah Strong, UConn, So., F
Skylar Forbes, Marquette, Jr., F
Savannah Catalon, Seton Hall, Jr., G
Kennedy Henry, Villanova, Fr., G
All-Freshman Team
Blanca Quiñonez, UConn, Fr., F*
Ava Zediker, Creighton, Fr., G*
Neleigh Gessert, Creighton, Fr., G*
Zahara Bishop, Seton Hall, Fr., G
Kennedy Henry, Villanova, Fr., G*
* Unanimous selection
^ Due to a tie in voting, there are six players on the second-team
