STORRS, CT — Sarah Strong understood the assignment after No. 2 UConn lost to No. 5 Michigan in a women's basketball showdown last week. It was the Huskies' second game of the season, and they were 1-1 for the first time in over a decade.
"After the game, you just had to do a lot of self-reflecting," Strong said. "Personally, me, I just, I know I messed up in every aspect of the Michigan game. And coach (Geno Auriemma) told me that, and I just know how to be better for my team."
The junior forward responded with the best game of her career at UConn, scoring a career-best 39 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But something else came through in the 91-79 bounce-back victory over No. 10 Iowa at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 8. Strong showed an edge
rarely witnessed in her two seasons with the Huskies.
First, Strong hit buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first half and responded with passion. She chest bumped a couple of teammates in celebration and flashed a smile before running back to the locker room.
Then, when timeout was called in the second half, Strong was animated as she ran back to the huddle. She gestured to teammates about what seemed to be a blown formation. Strong stood in front of Auriemma with her arms folded across her chest, as if setting a screen, and finished making her point before letting her coach take over.
This, Auriemma said, is the leadership he has been asking from from Strong, the consensus National Player of the Year in 2026, since she arrived in Storrs. Strong has always been a talented player, perhaps the most talented in college basketball, but he wants her to be more aggressive and vocal.
The loss to the Wolverines seems to have sparked something.
"She was really upset about what happened and how it happened and the way the whole thing evolved," Auriemma said. "She had a different look about her at practice and the way she was talking to the players and the example that she was setting as these couple of days went by and how aggressive she's capable of being. I think that was evident today."
Evident in the way Strong looked for her shot from the get-go against the Hawkeyes instead of deferring.
"I don't know, I just felt good," Strong said. "If my team is gonna give me the ball and I'm open, I'm gonna shoot it. That's what coach has been harping on for the last two years I've been here."
Strong led the Huskies in points (18.4), rebounds (6.4) and steals (3.4) last season. But Auriemma did consistently harp on not just Strong, but the entire team, making an extra pass when they had a wide open shot.
"Taking 26 shots, I don't know since she's been here that's she's taken 26 shots ever," Auriemma said of what was, indeed, Strong's most shots attempted at UConn. Her previous high was 20. "She was willing to take more shots, which was a start. Didn't pass up any that she should have taken.
"If we can get her to stop passing up open shots and take them, then there may be a bunch of nights like tonight. She's that good a shooter, she's that good a scorer."
That could present even more of a problem for defenses looking to stop the 6-foot-2 phenom and keep the WNBA scouts salivating. Strong will be the top draft pick in the league when she decides to enter.
"She's the most versatile big-guard, guard-big. She will be one of the best to ever play here, and that's saying a lot," Iowa coach Jan Jensen said after her team's loss to the Huskies. "But she's going to be one of the best ever, period.
"Geno has challenged her with, to be more of a captain, to be a bigger voice, and do everything more consistently even though she was the player of the year last year. ... She's a quiet sweetheart, this year she's acting more outspoken, I really respect that."
It's something the Huskies will need to continue as they traverse a challenging non-conference schedule. UConn will face ranked opponents including Ohio State, Louisville, Duke and South Carolina during November.
"Sarah knows what she is, she knows who she is, she knows what her talent level is," Auriemma said. "And the ball seems to find her, but the ball finds all great players.
"We have a lot of good players, but we only have one that's Sarah Strong."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sarah Strong has always had the talent. Now UConn is seeing the edge
