UConn cleans up Big East postseason awards
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UConn cleaned up the Big East postseason awards on Thursday, taking home five of the seven major honors while landing four players on all-conference teams.
Sarah Strong was the unanimous pick for Big East Player of the Year and also took home Defensive Player of the Year, Blanca Quiñonez claimed Freshman of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year while Geno Auriemma earned Coach of the Year honors.
Meanwhile, Strong and Azzi Fudd were unanimous selections to the All-Big East First Team while KK Arnold also made the cut. Quiñonez landed on the All-Conference Second Team while Ashlynn Shade received an honorable mention nod.
Strong and Arnold both made the Big East All-Defensive Team — though not Fudd — while Quiñonez unanimously made the All-Freshman Team.
On the season, Strong averaged 18.6 points (second in the Big East) on 59.5 percent shooting (first), 7.6 rebounds (third), 4.3 assists (fifth), 3.2 steals (first) and 1.6 blocks (second). She did all that in just 26.6 minutes per game, which ranked 31st in the league. She also took home Big East Player of the Week on seven times.
Strong is the 29th Husky to be named Conference Player of the Year and the 14th to earn Conference Defensive Player of the Year. She’s just the third player in Big East history to claim both awards in the same season, joining UConn’s Nykesha Sales (1997-98) and Notre Dame’s Ruth Riley (2000-01).
As for Quiñonez, she put up 10.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals off the bench despite missing eight games due to shoulder injuries. She collected Big East Freshman of the Week on seven occasions. She is the 18th Husky to take home Freshman of the Year and the sixth to win Sixth Woman of the Year. Before Quiñonez, no first-year player had been named Big East Sixth Woman of the Year.
Fudd is currently having the best season of her career, recording 17.9 points on a .490/.451/.950 shooting split to go with 2.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals — all of which are career-bests. Nationally, she ranks second in 3-pointers made (96) and ninth in 3-point percentage (45.1).
Meanwhile, Arnold thrived as UConn’s starting point guard this season. Her 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals were good for second-best in the Big East in both categories, while she also compiled 6.9 points and 2.2 rebounds.
With Auriemma, he guided the Huskies to the program’s 11th undefeated regular season and third consecutive perfect record in league play, winning every game by double-digits. Along the way, UConn set a program record for conference victories in a single season with 20 and claimed the Big East regular season crown. This is Auriemma’s 20th Conference Coach of the Year award and third straight.
Shade, the 2025 Big East Woman of the Year, did a little bit of everything with the Huskies this season, finishing with a line of 8.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals. She found a scoring groove towards the end of the year, reaching double-figures in seven of her last 10 games.
UConn begins the Big East Tournament on Saturday against the winner of 8-seed Georgetown and 9-seed Butler. The Huskies have won every conference championship since re-joining the league in 2020.
