Date: Sunday, Nov. 2

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Location: PeoplesBank Arena, Hartford, CT

TV: NBC Sports Network

Stream: Peacock

Radio: UConn Sports Network (97.9 Fox Sports and affiliates)

2025-26 record: 9-18 (4-10 Ivy League)

Location: Ithaca, New York

Head coach: Emily Garner (third season)

Cornell enters its third season under Emily Garner, who previously coached at Trinity College in Hartford from 2016-24. Since the Ivy League schools are academically focused, they don’t utilize the portal as much as power conferences. In fact, the Big Red don’t feature a single transfer. That means rebuilds take more time.

Cornell hasn’t put together a winning season since 2016-17 and has only managed 10+ wins three times in the last eight years. It went 7-19 the year before Garner took over, 7-20 in her first campaign and 9-18 last season.

The Big Red could be ready to take a step forward, though. They return 80.9 percent of their scoring from a year ago — including their top five scorers — 77.5 percent of their rebounding and 85.8 percent of their assists. They were picked to finish sixth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll.

As a program, Cornell doesn’t have much history. It’s only made the NCAA Tournament once when it won the Ivy League in 2008. The Big Red earned a 16-seed and were unceremoniously dumped out of the first round by UConn.

Chris Dailey started her coaching career at Cornell. She joined the staff in 1982 and spent one season in Ithaca before leaving for her alma mater, Rutgers. Dailey arrived at UConn alongside Geno Auriemma in 1985.

Points: 11.2 — Rachel Kaus
Rebounds: 5.0 — Clarke Jackson
Assists: 3.3 — Kelsey Langston
Steals: 1.0 — Paige Engels, Kelsey Langston
3-point %: 36.4 — Rachel Kaus

UConn and Cornell have only played once previously, an 89-47 victory for the top-seeded Huskies in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in Bridgeport. Maya Moore led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Charde Houston (14 points), Brittany Hunter (11 points) and Renee Montgomery (10 points) also reached double figures.

In its preseason finale, UConn beat Army, 86-50. It wasn’t exactly an easy victory for the Huskies, though. They trailed 15-7 midway through the first quarter and needed an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. While they outscored the visitors 32-7 in the second period, they were only +11 across the other three frames.

Sarah Strong had 19 points in 23 minutes while Allie Ziebell (13 points) and Jovana Popovic (10 points) also performed well. Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder), Marine Dursus (foot) and Morgan Cheli (undisclosed) all sat out.

UConn women’s basketball will finally be at full strength when it opens the regular season on Monday. Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder), Marine Dursus (foot) and Morgan Cheli (undisclosed) are all expected to be available after missing time in the preseason.

“I'm expecting everyone to be available for at least something,” Geno Auriemma told reporters on Saturday.

By the numbers, in honor of the late Carl Adamec.

30 — UConn has won 30 straight season openers dating back to the 1996-97 season.

7 — Geno Auriemma is a perfect 7-0 all-time against the Ivy League. The last meeting against a team from the conference came in 2022-23, a 69-64 victory over Carla Berube’s Princeton squad.

3 — Three players will make their UConn debuts on Monday: Olivia Vukosa, Marine Dursus and Jovana Popovic.

631 — Morgan Cheli has not played in an official game in 631 days, dating back to Feb. 9, 2025 at Providence.

5 — Nov. 2 is UConn’s earliest season opener ever, five days before the previous record of Nov. 7, set a year ago.

11 — Cornell is one of 11 teams the Huskies will play during the regular season that they previously faced in the NCAA Tournament.