How Sarah Strong put her second year leap on display in season opener

Sarah Strong puts second-year leap on display in season opening victory

Back in June, Geno Auriemma explained how Sarah Strong could improve after her historic freshman campaign.

“Just more aggressive, more assertive, more ‘If I don't like the way things are going, I’m gonna take over,” he explained.

It took one game for Strong to put that second year leap on display. With UConn reeling after Louisville cut the lead down to 10 points with a 10-0 run, the sophomore decided she’d seen enough. Strong scored on back-to-back possessions to stop the bleeding, promptly ending the Cardinals’ comeback hopes.

In other words: She didn’t like the way things were going and took over.

“Sarah had some clutch shots at the end,” Azzi Fudd said.

That’s not something Strong would’ve done last season. As a rookie joining a team laden with veteran stars, she made a concerted effort not to step on any toes. Despite her immense talent, Strong was all too happy to defer to her older teammates.

“Early in her freshman year, she would get the ball and have a wide open shot and decide to throw it to you because she felt like, ‘Well, who am I to take every shot? I’m only a freshman. They got Azzi, they got Paige (Bueckers), they got all these guys that were really, really good,’” Auriemma said on his radio show. “Every time she caught the ball, she would be thinking, ‘Who am I going to pass to?’”

With Bueckers gone, Strong will use her court vision and passing ability more than ever. UConn ran much of its offense through her last year in the NCAA Tournament and will continue to do so this season — underlined by her team-leading five assists in the opener.

“Sarah is the one that runs that whole show,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said postgame.

The difference is that Strong is no longer just looking to pass. While she’s been one of the Huskies’ top players from the moment she stepped on campus, she’s finally starting to act like it.

“You ask: What’s the growth in Sarah? She still passes the ball to anybody who’s open. If you get open, she’s going to give you the ball. I mean, she threw a pass today that only Diana (Taurasi) could throw. This pass, it was just unbelievable,” Auriemma said, again on his radio show. “So she’s still going to pass the ball but now, it’s after [she tries] to get a shot off. She’s looking to score way more than she did last year.”

Strong ultimately finished with a game-high 21 points against Louisville and did so without hitting a single 3-pointer. But the most notable part of her stat line? 17 shot attempts. Last year, Strong only surpassed that mark twice.

Now, in her first game as a sophomore, she led the Huskies in scoring and assists while taking more shots than everybody not named Fudd. A new version of Strong has arrived — and it’s here to stay.

“We try to put the ball in her hands as often as possible,” Auriemma said. “She's a playmaker and we're going to put the ball in our best playmaker’s hands.”