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The Weekly: Allie Ziebell explodes for record-setting performance
The sophomore set or matched multiple personal and program records in the win over Xavier.
Daniel Connolly
January 29, 2026
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Photo: Ian Bethune
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In a 97-39 win over Xavier on Wednesday, Allie Ziebell caught fire. She finished with 34 points on 10-14 shooting from deep while setting multiple personal and program records.
Ziebell’s 34 points were a career-best, a season-high for any Husky this season (Azzi Fudd held the previous mark of 31) and the single-game program record for a reserve.
She’s now averaging 22.3 points in three career games against Xavier and 3.6 points against everyone else. Ziebell has hit double-figures in six contests — half of those have been versus the Musketeers.
With 10 made 3-pointers, Ziebell tied a single-game program record. Only Katie Lou Samuelson (3/20/17 vs USF), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (11/14/14 vs UC Davis) and Maya Moore (1/17/09 vs Syracuse) have matched that total previously. None of those came in Storrs, though, so Ziebell set the Gampel Pavilion record.
In the locker room postgame, Ziebell’s teammates soaked her with water when Geno Auriemma revealed she’d tied the program record for made threes.
“A lot of water was sprayed. Got a little drenched. It was a lot of fun,” she beamed.
Afterwards, Auriemma gushed about the sophomore.
"That's the Allie that I saw in high school. That's the Allie that I saw every summer. That's the kid we recruited,” he said.
As did her teammates.
“I thought it was the best thing ever,” Ashlynn Shade added.
Even the usually-reserved Sarah Strong let her guard down.
“Did y’all see Allie made 10 threes? Give it up for her: WOOOOO,” she cheered.
We’ll have full coverage of Ziebell’s breakout performance later today.
Out of the gate on Saturday, UConn found itself staring down its largest deficit of the season — all of six points. Azzi Fudd scored the Huskies’ first nine points then passed the baton to Blanca Quiñonez, who played the role of game-changer from the moment she stepped onto the court.
With an 83-42 victory at Georgetown on Thursday, the Huskies extended their winning streak to 36 games — their longest since the 2017-18 season. UConn jumped out to a 20-2 lead, though it only put up nine points during a rough third quarter.
Geno Auriemma wasn’t too worried about that afterwards, though.
“Usually when you score nine points, the shots aren't falling. Then the shots were falling and you scored 30 (in the second quarter),” he explained. “So, as I’ve said all season long, I'll start worrying when we can't get open shots. But when we get a bunch of open shots and we don't make them, I can't complain. I mean, I do, but I can't really complain.”
In case you missed it
Last week’s weekly: Geno comes out victorious in his fight for good pizza
Blanca Quiñonez, Serah Williams not expected to miss much time: Some (tentatively) good news on the injury front after six players sat out UConn’s win over Xavier on Wednesday.
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Rankings and awards
AP Poll: It was a good week for UConn in the AP Poll. The Huskies remained at No. 1 while Louisville rose to No. 7, Iowa jumped to No. 8 and Ohio State moved in at No. 11. Meanwhile, Michigan dropped to No. 9 while Tennessee improved to No. 15.
Big East weekly honors: Once again, UConn swept the weekly Big East awards after a 3-0 week. Sarah Strong (20.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals) claimed her sixth player of the week overall (and third straight) while Blanca Quiñonez (10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists) picked up her seventh freshman of the week honor.
Naismith Defensive Player of the Year: Sarah Strong and KK Arnold were named to the 25-player watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. No Husky has ever won the award, which began in 2018. However, four players have won the WBCA’s National Defensive Player of the Year: Kia Nurse (2018), Gabby Williams (2017), Moriah Jefferson (2016) and Stefanie Dolson (2014).
Geno being Geno
A trio of entertaining quotes/rants from Geno Auriemma over the past week:
The snow blower
“If I gotta go shovel snow, I'm not going to be able to last much longer because I'll get worn out. So I did buy a snowblower for Kathy and I'm expecting her to clear out the driveway… This is an honest-to-god true story. I asked her a few years ago, I said, ‘What do you want for your birthday?’ Her birthday is in December. She goes, ‘You know what I really want? I want a snow blower because the only time it snows here is when you guys go on a road trip.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, that sounds good.’ So now I'm up there buying a snow blower and the guys giving me all these features: It's got this, it's got that, it's got this engine, it's got that, you can do this, you can do that. I finally I said, ‘Hey, listen, this is not for me, it's for my wife.’ He goes, ‘Oh, then she'll love it. It’s got heated handles.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’ll take it.’”
Travel troubles
Originally, UConn planned to return home between its games at Georgetown and at Seton Hall. But after the snowstorm moved the latter contest up a day, the Huskies went straight from Washington, DC to South Orange. That created some issues regarding what the team would wear for the second game.
“For me, business as usual. I'm a guy. But all the women in our travel party, they had a nervous breakdown trying to figure out, ‘Oh my God, I can't wear the same thing two times in a row.’ I'm like, ‘If we have five games this week, I'd be fine. I don’t give a s—t.’ But for them, yeah, it was a traumatic experience.”
Levels of trust
“I trust [Ashlynn Shade] — to a point. Not, like, with my life. But I trust her. Like Sarah Strong, I trust her with my life… Would I trust Sarah Strong with my life? If my life depended on winning a basketball game, yeah."
A look back:
14 of UConn’s 15 players landed on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll with a 3.0 GPA or better:
Shea Ralph talks about scheduling her alma mater:
It’s about time:
A fun look back:
Trivia question of the week
Who was the last Connecticut native on UConn's roster? |
The week ahead
Sunday: UConn renews its rivalry with Tennessee and looks to get payback after last season’s loss. Tip-off is set for noon from downtown Hartford.
Wednesday: The Huskies will travel to Chicago to take on lowly DePaul, which has just two wins in 11 tries in Big East play. UConn’s largest margin of victory this season came against the Blue Demons — a 102-35 dismantling.
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