The 2015–16 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by 31st-year head coach Geno Auriemma, won the NCAA tournament and went undefeated. With their eleventh championship win in 2016, the UConn Huskies became the first NCAA Division I women's basketball team to win four straight national championships.

Media Every single Connecticut game was expected to be televised. Excluding exhibitions, every Connecticut home game and most conference games aired on SNY with a simulcast on Husky Vision. Select games aired on ESPN3, another ESPN Network, or CBS Sports Network. Every game was once again broadcast on the UConn IMG Sports Network, with an extra audio broadcast available online through Husky Vision.

Off-season

FIBA Americas U16 Championship Andra Espinoza-Hunter, who had committed to play for Connecticut in 2017, played for the USA team at the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship held in Puebla, Mexico. Espinoza-Hunter played for Blair Academy, and had previously played for Ossining High School, where she was a teammate of Saniya Chong. The USA team won their preliminary games, but lost in the semifinals to Brazil. They defeated the host team, Mexico, to earn the bronze medal. In the bronze medal game, Espinoza-Hunter scored ten points, one of four players in double figures.

FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women UConn commits Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield both played at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women, held in Chekhov, Russia from 8 to 26 July 2015. The USA team won all seven games to win the gold medal. In the semi-final against Spain, Collier had 24 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field. Collier was named to the five player all-tournament squad.

Pan Am games Three UConn players participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015. Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson played for the USA team, while Kia Nurse played for the Canadian team.

Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire, with Canada eking out a 71–68 win. Canada faced Brazil in the semifinal.

Everything seemed to go right in the semifinal game. Canada opened the game with an 11–2 run on seven consecutive points by Miranda Ayim. Miah-Marie Langlois contributed five assists. In the third quarter, Canada strongly out-rebounded Brazil and hit 69% of their field goals to score 33 points in the quarter. Lizanne Murphy and Nirra Fields hit three-pointers to help extend the lead to 68–39 at the end of three quarters. Canada continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with three-pointers by Nurse and Kim Gaucher. Canada won the game 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA.

The gold-medal game matched up the host team Canada against USA, in a sold-out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang "O Canada" as the respective national anthems were played.

After trading baskets early, the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However, the Canadians, spurred on by the home crowd cheering, fought back and tied up the game at halftime. In the third quarter, it was Canada's time to shine as they outscored the US 26–15. The lead reached as high as 18 points. The USA fought back, but Canada won the game and the gold medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Kia Nurse was the star for Canada, with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts in 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts, including two of three three-pointers.

Stewart was the leading scorer for the US in the gold-medal game with 17 points. She recorded a double double with 11 rebounds to go along with her points. Jefferson was the third leading scorer for the USA team, with 14 points.

FIBA Americas Women's Championship 2015 Nurse played for Canada at the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship, a qualifying event used to determine invitations to the 2016 Olympics. The games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in August, 2015. Canada was assigned to Group A and played Puerto Rico, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Cuba in the preliminary rounds. Canada won the first three games easily, with a 94–57 win over Puerto Rico as the closest match. The final preliminary round game was against undefeated Cuba, a team Canada had faced in the Pan Am games. Cuba played well in that event and was expected to challenge Canada. However, Canada defeated Cuba 92–43 to win first place in the group for a spot in the semifinal against the second-place team in group B, Brazil. Nurse was the leading scorer for Canada, with 14 points in the game.

The semifinal game against Brazil was much closer. Canada led by only six points at halftime but gradually expanded the lead to end up with an 83–66 win, and a spot in the gold-medal game. With teammate Shona Thorburn sidelined with an injury, Nurse played 35 minutes, the most of any player on the team. The gold-medal game was a rematch with Cuba, who won their semifinal game against Argentina. Despite the lopsided result in the preliminary rounds, Canada expected a closer game. Cuba started off strong and had an eight-point lead early in the game. Canada responded with a 16–0 run to take over the lead, but Cuba took a small lead early in the second half. Canada took the lead back and gradually expanded the lead to end up with the win, 82–66. As the game wound down to the close, the crowd was chanting "Rio, Rio, Rio" in recognition of the fact that the win would qualify Canada for the Olympics in Rio in 2016. Nurse was the leading scorer for Canada with 20 points, and her overall performance earned her the MVP award for the entire event.

Roster

De'Janae Boykin was only on the roster for the fall semester, after which she transferred from UConn.

Games

Exhibition

Lubbock Christian The opening exhibition game was played against the Lady Chaps from Lubbock Christian University. The Huskies trailed early, but got untracked quickly, behind 25 points from Stewart, and cruised to a 95–39 win. After the game, Auriemma went to the public address microphone to praise both the team and the fans who made the trip, saying "Their fans were great. That’s a long way for them to travel, and they did. It was way better than a lot of exhibition games we’ve had."

Lubbock Christian would go on to win the Division II national title this season, completing an unbeaten season in its first year of NCAA postseason eligibility after transitioning from the NAIA.

Vanguard The game outcome was never in doubt–only the final margin of 80 points in the 98–18 win was unknown–but the interesting aspect of the game was neither the opponents nor the outcome, but the rules. The teams agreed to use experimental rules, largely following the European set of rules. This included use of a larger ball, often call the men's ball, as well as a wider lane, a 24–second shot clock, and an 8-second count to cross into the front court. The international distance of 22 feet 1 inch for the three-point line was used rather than the usual 20 feet 9 inches. The experiment was undertaken to provide information to those who might support the inclusion of the rules into regular-season playing rules.

Regular season

Ohio State Ohio's State's coach Kevin McGuff wanted to challenge his team, although circumstances created a larger challenge than he had intended. He scheduled the number two team in the country South Carolina, then was invited to participate in an early season event that included a game against the number one UConn team, which meant he had to play the number two and number one teams back to back. His team played well against South Carolina, ending up with an 88–80 loss. The result wasn't as close against the Huskies. UConn opened up early with several points, but Ohio State responded, cutting the lead to just three points late in the first quarter; the Huskies then took over. UConn led 50–24 at the half and ended up with 100 points against 56 for Ohio State. Both Stewart and Jefferson scored over 20 points with Stewart scoring 24 and Jefferson scoring 21.

Kansas State The Huskies took on the Kansas State Wildcats in the second game, on the 30th anniversary of Geno Auriemma's first game, a win against Iona. Breanna Stewart was the leading scorer with 25 points, one of which helped her reach the 2000 career point plateau, making her the 10th all-time scoring leader at UConn. The Huskies led throughout the game, and won by a margin of 40 points, 97–57.

Nebraska For the first time on the season, UConn found itself trailing. It was very early in the game, but Nebraska had a 7–3 lead. The lead did not last long. Stewart hit her first nine baskets and ended up with 25 points. She also recorded 10 rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots, helping the Huskies dominate the Huskers and cruise to an 88–46 win.

Chattanooga UConn played Chattanooga at their home court on 30 November. At the time Chattanooga was coached by Jim Foster, who as the head coach of the St. Joseph's women's basketball team in 1978 had hired Geno Auriemma as an assistant, Auriemma's first coaching position. Almost 40 years later, Jim Foster asked Auriemma for a chance to play Connecticut. The game itself was notable for the defense; the Huskies held Chattanooga to 31 points. The game was reasonably close early on. Queen Alford hit a three-pointer early in the third quarter to cut Chattanooga's deficit to only 11, at 37–26, but the Mocs would only manage one more score in the quarter. Connecticut went on a 23–2 run to extend the lead to 32 points, ultimately winning by a score of 79–31.

DePaul UConn faced DePaul, a team they had regularly played when both were in the Big East; it was now an out-of-conference game. DePaul came into the game ranked # 23 and having won their prior two games by a combined margin of almost 100 points. DePaul's coach Doug Bruno used hockey style subbing, taking out all five players and sending in five new players, to keep the players fresh. DePaul is a proficient three-point shooting team, and hit six of their first twelve three-point attempts. UConn led by seven at one point, but the Blue Demons came back to take a one-point lead 34–33. The Huskies led at the half, but only by three points, 44–41. The game remained close until Katie Lou Samuelson, who had hardly played in the first three quarters, came in and scored ten points in the final quarter to help put the game out of reach. UConn won the game 86–70.

Notre Dame The next game, against Notre Dame, represented a rematch of the two teams in the prior year's national championship game. Playing without Taya Reimer and Briana Turner, Notre Dame opted for a guard-oriented, perimeter offense. They tied a school record with 13 three-pointers in the game. Marina Mabrey scored 21 points in the first half for the Irish. UConn's Jefferson announced at halftime she would guard Mabrey in the second half, and Mabrey subsequently only scored two points in the half. Stewart was the leading scorer with 28 points, but Tuck had 21 points, along with eight assists and seven rebounds. The Huskies won by ten points, 91–81.

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