The opening night of the Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday will take place in New York at one of the most famous WNBA arenas.

The goal of the event is to showcase some of the most influential programs in women’s college basketball with a doubleheader broadcast on national television. UConn women’s basketball and Tennessee lead the foursome as former national champions, while Iowa and Louisville have a combined seven Final Four appearances, having each finished second nationally twice.

With the Barclays Center in Brooklyn able to accommodate 19,000 fans and the fan base having just won the 2024 WNBA Championship with the New York Liberty, it is sure to be an exciting evening in celebration of women’s college basketball.

But can the No. 2 Huskies rise to the occasion, especially knowing Saturday’s game will set the tone for their difficult stretch of non-conference play ahead?

“I think with every test we face, whether it’s at North Carolina or the Ole Miss game, our confidence will go up a little bit,” Geno Auriemma said Monday. “…You get the opportunity to play on the big network in a big setting in New York. It’s Christmas time. You want to take advantage of that. … I like big games in big arenas. I think they’re great for preparing you for what’s to come in March.”

UConn (7-0) will face No. 22 Louisville (5-3) in game two of the Women’s Champions Classic (tip scheduled at 9 p.m. on FOX). Three of the Huskies’ next four games are also against top-25 opponents, including next Thursday’s meeting at No. 10 Notre Dame in South Bend. UConn will then face No. 20 Iowa State on Dec. 17 before hosting No. 6 USC in Hartford on Dec. 21.

The Huskies are 2-0 against ranked teams this season, with wins over then-No. 14 UNC and most recently No. 18 Ole Miss in the Bahamas last week.

Still, Auriemma wasn’t impressed by his team’s inability to play great, coherent basketball for 40 minutes straight. On Tuesday against Holy Cross, UConn came out of the gate passive and allowed the Crusaders to lead by four in the first quarter. Last week against the Rebels, the Huskies looked great for 30 minutes, but hit a lull in the third quarter just after halftime in which Ole Miss went on a 15-0 run.

“Every team has to develop an identity for itself,” said Auriemma. “Our identity is the first half (of the Ole Miss game) where we thoroughly dominated the whole thing for 20 minutes. We could have stayed there with our identity in the third quarter where we dominated for ten minutes. We came back in the fourth quarter and showed something. And that will be a long road.

“But we have to do it again at Barclays, and we have to do it again at Notre Dame, and we have to do it again against Iowa State, and we have to do it again against Georgetown, and we have to do it again do against USC.”

The return of Azzi Fudd bolsters UConn’s offense alongside Paige Bueckers and freshman Sarah Strong, but the Huskies’ head coach is looking for additional contributors who can score when one of the three has bad nights or is targeted by the defense.

The Huskies’ second unit, led by sophomores Ashlynn Shade and KK Arnold, got plenty of reps against Holy Cross, but Saturday on the big stage in front of the big lights will be their first big test to prove they can do it when needed can become stronger.

“After the game (on Tuesday), coach’s message to us was that it doesn’t matter what opponent we are, we have to be ready, step up and hold on no matter who we’re playing,” said Ice Brady, a sophomore Redshirt sophomore year. “…Paige told us in the locker room, ‘December is going to be tough because we’re playing better teams.’ And that’s exactly what we want: to be challenged.”

But playing a full 40-minute game takes more than just offense. It requires a dominant mindset from start to finish.

Auriemma wants his team to switch gears and be more aggressive. While Saturday’s game against the Cardinals will be a challenge, next week’s rivalry game will be even more intense, and Auriemma wants his players to be ready to win.

“I’m curious if we have some kind of killer instinct in us because everyone says, ‘You have so many nice kids,'” he said. “…You have to have some (aggression). And these are games where you find out if you have that. You’d better have it.”

Auriemma told Bob Joyce on the UConn Women’s Basketball Coaches Show Thursday night that Ayanna Patterson will likely undergo “surgery” for her shoulder injury. The striker initially suffered a shoulder injury during pre-season training in mid-October. She battled back and participated in pregame warmups throughout November. She was allowed to begin contact training the weekend of November 23rd and was seen at scout team practice on November 24th.

However, she injured her shoulder again during training on Tuesday, November 26th. Patterson has not played since the 2023 Sweet 16 due to injury. The redshirt sophomore missed all of last season due to surgery for patellar tendonitis in her left knee.