The Aftermath: UConn's freshmen forwards impress in debut

In a season that’s centered around Paige Bueckers, it was UConn’s freshman forwards that stole in the show in the opener vs. Boston University. Sarah Strong and Jana El Alfy finished the night tied for the team lead with 17 points and combined to out-score the visitors 34-32.

Not bad for their first collegiate game.

“When they're looking to score and when we have a heavy post presence, we're a different team,” Paige Bueckers said of the duo. “So for them to set the tone like this at the start of the season is huge for what we can be as a team.”

They didn’t just score, either. El Alfy recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds while playing just 17 minutes and Strong picked up six assists, four rebounds and three assists.

“It just speaks to their confidence and how hard they've been working in practice and how much they've been learning,” Bueckers added.

For El Alfy, she made her long-awaited UConn debut on Thursday. She arrived in Storrs back in January 2023 but has watched from the sideline since — first while redshirting as an early enrollee and then while recovering from a ruptured achilles suffered in July 2023. When El Alfy entered the game at the 3:37 mark of the first quarter, 655 days had passed since she first stepped on campus.

“Being here for almost a year and a half now, not being able to play, it's been hard,” she said. “Being finally able to play in [front of] this crowd, obviously it's an incredible feeling. Can't even — I'm speechless.”

It wasn’t her first time in a UConn uniform, though. El Alfy played against Fort Hays State on Sunday, it just didn’t count as an exhibition. Perhaps that was for the best — she struggled with just two points and four fouls in 12 minutes of action.

But with a game under her belt, El Alfy looked like a different player against BU — and she should keep getting better as the season progresses, too.

“The more she plays, the more comfortable she's going to be,” Geno Auriemma said. “We had a long talk yesterday about her expectations for herself, her frustration level when things don't go her way. There's a lot of angst in her game. So I think just playing more games, being in more situations, getting feel, not going too fast. I thought she had a pretty good pace about her today, so it was a great start for her.”

As for Strong, she continued to live up to her coach’s sky-high expectations. While the Huskies let their youngsters run the show in the fourth quarter, Strong got the veteran treatment by watching the entire period from the bench alongside Bueckers and Kaitlyn Chen.

It made sense. After all, for UConn to reach its ceiling, she needs to play beyond her years.

“What role on the team does she have to play to get us to where we want to go? She has to play like she's an All American. She has to come in here and act like it and play like it,” Auriemma said. “We just we don't have the luxury of waiting for her to be great. So we're going to force it on her.”

Strong lived up to the billing on Thursday night. It’s not just that she put up a big point total, either — let alone the fact that she did it efficiently on an efficient 8-12 shooting, unlike some other recent freshmen phenoms. Strong makes an impact regardless of whether or not she scores a lot.

“Sarah's able to contribute so many different ways. Having her on the court is like having two or three players because she fills so many roles,” Auriemma said.

It’s not all on the offensive end, either. Strong’s six steals were also tied for the team lead.

“Some of the steals that she gets are ridiculous, too,” Auriemma said. “She just has such great hands and great feel for the game.”

The coach often says that at this point in the calendar, the freshmen are the worst they’ll ever be since they should only keep getting better. So if this performance is the floor for El Alfy and Strong, there’s a lot to be excited about with their future.

Especially since reality still hasn’t sunk in for Strong.

“It still feels like I'm on my official visit,” she laughed.

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