UConn women’s basketball opened the regular season with an underwhelming 72-61 win over the Cal Golden Bears. Head coach Geno Auriemma described it as a “weird” game, a word he used 11 times during his post-game press conference.
Here’s what stands out after one game:
Things were weird before the ball even tipped off. When the starting lineups were posted, senior Kyla Irwin took the fifth spot in the lineup among the other expected starters: Crystal Dangerfield, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Megan Walker and Christyn Williams.
While Irwin started two games last season when Walker was out with strep throat, freshman Anna Makurat was the fifth starter in both of UConn’s exhibitions.