FORT WORTH, Texas — The Greensboro Coliseum is barely 50 miles west of North Carolina’s campus in Chapel Hill, but when the UConn women’s basketball team came to town to face the Tar Heels last November, UNC forward Ciera Toomey recalls the crowd bleeding Husky blue.
“I remember being like, we’re in North Carolina but it feels like a home game for UConn,” Toomey said Thursday. “There were so many UConn fans, and it was so loud. It was the first really big game of our season, and I just remember it was a really cool atmosphere … We had a run in like the third and fourth quarter, and it was really cool to just feel that and be out there on the court with all those people.”
Advertisement
UConn came away with a 69-58 victory in 2024, and the undefeated No. 1 Huskies (36-0) will likely have another friendly neutral-site crowd Friday at 5 p.m. when they face the 4-seed Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The teams have played just once previously in the postseason in 1994, when North Carolina eliminated UConn in the Elite Eight, but the Huskies have won the last seven consecutive meetings.
That matchup in North Carolina last season was just the third game of Sarah Strong‘s college career, but the UConn forward was already a superstar in the making with 14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks in the win. More than a year later, Strong is the best player in the country leading UConn in nearly every statistical category. Across the first two games of the NCAA Tournament, the sophomore is averaging 18 points, seven boards, 3.5 assists and three steals.
“On the court before, it was like OK, let me see what (Strong) is going to do, what this teammate is going to do, but now she has no problem with demanding the ball and making things happen,” star guard Azzi Fudd said. “I love it, and she could do it every single game and every single possession. Just seeing her confidence grow and her voice grow is special to see.”
Going up against Strong in the Sweet 16 is bittersweet for UNC coach Courtney Banghart, who once hoped the star forward would be on this stage as part of her roster. Strong grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and the Tar Heels were one of her finalists when she was going through the recruiting process as the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2024. Though Strong ultimately chose to join coach Geno Auriemma‘s prolific legacy at UConn, Banghart said remains a huge fan of the sophomore phenom.
Advertisement
“When we played them last year in Greensboro, my kids, who are young, ran right up to her and hugged her and told her they missed her,” Banghart said. “She’s a special kid and a kid I’ve loved for a long time. I think she’s a generational talent. It’s been fun to support her. I’ve watched a lot of their games because I’m a Sarah Strong fan. You never want to let a kid like that out of your state. I thought we were really close to getting her, but obviously she made a good decision as well. There’s no bad decision for a kid that talented.”
Sign up here to get UConn sports news straight to your inbox: UConn Alerts
Strong still has a great deal of affection for the UNC program and for Banghart, but that relationship goes out the window once she steps on the court.
“Going to UNC games, they were just so welcoming, the whole team and whole staff,” Strong said. “Going to (Banghart’s) house, hanging out with the team, it was a lot of fun. It was a hard decision to pick a school based off of that, but I’m really excited to play them tomorrow.”
Advertisement
The Huskies come into Friday’s matchup on a 52-game winning streak, and though their unbeaten run in 2025-26 is powered by a pair of Naismith Trophy finalists in Strong and Fudd, it’s their depth and balance that makes them so difficult to slow down. UConn leads the country in assists and needs just 10 more to break the national record for assists in a single season currently held by the 2016-17 Huskies.
The team is also a defensive juggernaut, allowing just 50.3 points per game and leading the country with a 38.7-point margin of victory. UConn is 16 steals shy of breaking the single-season national record, which has stood since 1997.
“I think you can tell by watching our team just how unselfish we are and how the biggest goal is to win,” Fudd said. “It doesn’t matter who has the most points, who has the most rebounds, what the stat lines look like. The No. 1 priority is to help the team succeed in any way possible.”
The Huskies are looking to advance to their 18th Elite Eight in the last 19 tournaments, and the odds are heavily in their favor. North Carolina is projected as a 27.5-point underdog in the matchup, the widest spread of any Sweet 16 game in the women’s bracket. The Tar Heels aren’t just contending with the UConn team in front of them on the court: They also have to mentally overcome the program’s record of utter dominance this season and its decades of unparalleled success in March Madness.
Advertisement
“I think the biggest thing is not letting the noise control the vibes and control our mental attitude,” Toomey said. “I’m sure 36 other teams thought the same thing going into their games, but on this stage it’s just different, and in March anything is possible … We understand it’s going to be a hard game, but we really are just doing whatever it takes to get the win.”
How to watch
Site: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
Time/date: 5 p.m., Friday
Team records: UConn 36-0, North Carolina 28-7
Series record: UConn leads 9-5
Last meeting: UConn 69, North Carolina 58; Nov. 15, 2024 in Greensboro, N.C.
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports 97.9
