The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma, in his 32nd season at UConn, played their home games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center and were fourth year members of the American Athletic Conference.

They finished the season 36–1, 16–0 in AAC play to win both the AAC regular season and tournament titles to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they defeated Albany and Syracuse in the first and second rounds, UCLA in the sweet sixteen and Oregon in the elite eight to reach their eighteenth final four where they lost on a game winning buzzer beater in overtime to Mississippi State ending a 111-game winning streak.

Sources: Roster Last update: 9/21/16 Connecticut took on the Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks in their initial exhibition game.

The Seminoles were ranked 12th, but did not have Leticia Romero, who had played on the Olympic team from Spain which won the silver medal.

Florida State led by four points at halftime, only the fourth time that Connecticut trailed at the half in their streak.

The Seminoles expanded the lead to seven; the largest deficit the Huskies had faced in the second half of the streak was two points, against Maryland the previous year.

After inbounding, Shakayla Thomas tried to score but she was blocked by Naphessa Collier who then tapped the ball to Crystal Dangerfield.

Florida State had one final chance, down by two points, but Imani Wright's three-point attempt missed the basket and Connecticut escaped with a two-point win, 78–76.

It is the first time since February 2015, when Connecticut faced South Carolina, that the Huskies were playing a team ranked ahead of them in a poll.

However, shortly after, the Huskies led by Chrystal Dangerfield and Gabby Williams went on an 18–4 run to give UConn a 10-point lead.

The Huskies opened up the game in the second quarter, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to extend the lead to 13 points.

When asked about the 5 ranked teams in the upcoming schedule, Auriemma said "...we need to get our ass beat and soon and bad, so that some of our guys will come to realize that this is not as easy as they think it is".

The Huskies hit their first nine shots, but it was the defense that impressed coach Auriemma as the team held the Blue Demons without a basket for almost 6 minutes.

[10][11] UConn faced 14th ranked Texas before a crowd of 9,014 at the Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the annual Jimmy V classic.

Collier played virtually the entire game, not coming out until the final minute, scoring 24 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Notre Dame added another 9–0 run to take a lead 34–30, although UConn scored the final four points of the half to tie the game at halftime.

Kansas State cut the lead to 11 in the third quarter before UConn scored ten consecutive points to open up a more comfortable margin.

Although the Knights had improved under head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, assisted by former UConn star Nykesha Sales, the team was no match for the Huskies, falling 84–48.

[32] UConn faced South Florida in Hartford with a chance to tie the consecutive wins record, set by Connecticut in 2010.

Accolades came in from many observers, including Anucha Browne, the NCAA Vice President of Women's Basketball Championships, who remarked, "Congratulations to Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies on the sustained excellence it has taken to establish a new consecutive games won record.

To have won over 70 games in a row three times over the last 14 years is a testament to the UConn student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans who continue to fuel the program.

In the first half, UConn hit 77% of their shot attempts, and held Temple to 18 points, prompting head coach Auriemma to remark, "I can't think of one thing when we went in at halftime that I could've said, 'We need to do a better job.'

The Bearcats, under head coach Jamelle Elliott, a former UConn assistant, were having their best season in years, with a 14–9 record, but were no match for Connecticut.

Samuelson had been unable to practice for the last two days due to illness, and her status was unknown even as game time neared.

Williams reached 200 rebounds, 100 assists, 50 steals, and 25 blocks for the season, becoming only the third Husky to accomplish this, along with Maya Moore (who was in attendance) and Breanna Stewart.

[47][48] After a dozen AAC games, in which the margin of victory was never less than 28 points, UConn faced sixth ranked South Carolina before a sellout crowd of 10,167.

The Gamecocks could not trim the margin to single digits in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies went on to win their 100th consecutive game by a score of 66–55.

Watching the game in the stands were former UConn stars Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart.

[51][52] Following the close game against Tulane, UConn returned home to take on Temple, winners of four of their last five and ranked for the first time in a decade.

Lawler started for the first time in her career and assisted on a pass to Samuelson which resulted in a four-point play on the first possession of the game.