On a rainy Sunday in Fairfield, nearly 2,000 fans packed into the Pitt Center at Sacred Heart to see UConn women’s basketball take the court for an open practice and scrimmage. Afterwards, Geno Auriemma joked that 2,000 people probably didn’t even come to watch his team play at Hugh Greer Field House (the team’s home before Gampel Pavilion) over the course of an entire season.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s hard to believe,” he said.

Despite being the first look at the 2026-27 edition of the Huskies, there’s only so much to glean from a fairly short practice session and scrimmage. This is far closer to a fan engagement event than an actual practice. All observations, takeaways and stats should be viewed in that context.

Did not participate: Morgan Cheli, Marine Dursus, Blanca Quiñonez, Allie Ziebell

The Huskies were without four players on Sunday. Allie Ziebell had a boot on and walked out in sweats while Cheli, Dursus and Quiñonez all wore shorts but not practice jerseys.

According to Auriemma, none of them are dealing with anything serious and they’re all expected to return to action in the coming weeks.

“Everybody's kind of on their own little schedule,” he said. “Everybody says that they’re going to be 100 percent. I don’t know what that means, but I'm looking forward to it.”

Quiñonez is still coming back from offseason surgery. She went under the knife in May to repair a torn labrum in her left shoulder, an injury that hampered her throughout this past season.

“Blanca's had a great summer,” Auriemma said. “She's worked really, really hard.”

Meanwhile, Ziebell landed on her ankle during a layup drill in practice “just the other day”, the coach explained. As for Dursus, she’s dealing with a foot injury that predates her time on campus.

Or as Auriemma put it: “She's rehabbing a foot that she brought with her in her suitcase from France.”

With Cheli, the coach didn’t say much about the redshirt sophomore. While she missed the entire 2025-26 campaign while recovering from a stress fracture in her right ankle, Cheli was a full participant during the Huskies’ summer workouts. It’s unclear what kept her out.

“Morgan — hey, they told me she'll be ready,” is all Auriemma said.

The Huskies spent an hour and 20 minutes on the court, though not all of it focused on basketball.