FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 15 Arkansas women's basketball team has added a game against a top 10 opponent in Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play No. 3 Connecticut in Fayetteville on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. The UConn game replaces a game against Vanderbilt that was canceled when the Commodores canceled their season due to complications related to the covid-19 pandemic.
"We entered this season knowing cancellation of games could be a possibility, so we started early conversations with our friends in the game that had a similar desire to play the best competition possible with covid protocols in mind,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said in a release. “When Vanderbilt opted out of the season Monday, we were lucky enough that UConn had a common open date as ours. A few texts and a couple of calls later, we got it all set.”
Arkansas has played UConn once — a 100-64 loss to the Huskies on Nov. 14, 1998, at Bud Walton Arena.
UConn will be the third top 10 team Arkansas has played at home this year (Baylor and Texas A&M), and the sixth ranked team the Razorbacks (11-5) have faced this season.
“We are so proud of our team for wanting to play against the best teams in the country,” Neighbors said. “They embrace the challenge of playing against the team that has set the standard for play in our game over the last 25 years."
UConn (8-0) has former Central Arkansas Christian standout Christyn Williams on its roster. In eight games Williams has averaged 14.9 points, 3.4 assists and is shooting 35% from beyond the arc.
The Huskies are coached by Geno Auriemma, who has a 1,099-142 record and has won 11 NCAA championships in 36 seasons. On Tuesday, Auriemma passed former Tennessee coach Pat Summit for second-most victories in college basketball history.
All season ticket holders and people who previously bought a ticket to the Vanderbilt game will be admitted to the UConn game with the same ticket. Single-game tickets are on sale now.