The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma, in his 33rd season at UConn, played their home games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center and were fifth-year members of the American Athletic Conference.

In the National Semifinal, they lost in overtime on a last-second shot for the second consecutive year, this time to Notre Dame, ending the school's 36-game winning streak.

They defeated Tulsa, UCF, and South Florida to win the AAC women's tournament championship.

[3] Megan Walker, Crystal Dangerfield, and Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian Schools, with a verbal commitment to Connecticut) all participated on the United States women's national under-19 basketball team which competed in the FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup, held in Udine, Italy in July.

The USA team faced an undefeated Russia in the gold medal game, but fell short, losing 86–82.

[4][5] Christyn Williams was one of four players selected to represent the US in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup held in Chengdu, China in June and July.

Nurse was not present for that game as she was still playing for the Canadian national team in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament.

UConn held a slim lead at halftime 37–36, playing without Collier who had injured her ankle in the prior game.

[12] The UConn team opened their season on the road, playing in the Countdown to Columbus doubleheader against 10th-ranked Stanford.

The Huskies had the good fortune to return three first-team All-American's (the only team in Division I women's basketball to do so this year).

For the first time in four years, the opening game did not follow a successful national championship bid, so the team potentially could interrupt their back-to-back winning streak extending from 1993 to 1994.

The team unveiled a banner to honor Rebecca Lobo before the game to reflect her inclusion in the Naismith Hall of Fame in September.

Despite playing the number five ranked team in the country, her teammates responded, opening up a 24-point lead at one point and ending with a 78–60 win over the Bruins.

[19][20] The Huskies headed north on the next step in their West Coast trip to Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon to take place part in the Nike PK80 invitational.

Stevens, who felt she had not performed well against UCLA, stepped up with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists to help UConn to a 96–62 win.

[23][24] The game against the third-ranked and undefeated Notre Dame was highly anticipated, resulting in a sellout for the XL center.

Despite missing two of the top players, UConn outscored Notre Dame 26-9 in the fourth quarter, ending up with 80–71 victory.

Samuelson was cleared to play what started off slowly missing several over early shots but she ended up hitting half of her field-goal attempts to lead the Huskies with 20 points.

The game itself almost seem like an afterthought, as it represented 1,000 wins for head coach Geno Auriemma, but Oklahoma tried to spoil the celebration.

Auriemma was treated to tributes from former players and a Hall of Fame jacket as well as a cake, but he wasn't expecting to see many members of his inaugural 1985 team in attendance.

The Knights physical defense was effective in slowing down Connecticut and coach Auriemma spent nearly the entire halftime explaining this to the team.

However, Samuelson, usually a very solid free-throw shooter, had taken an inadvertent elbow to the eye earlier in the game, and missed two consecutive shots at the line in the final minute with UConn only leading by three points.

Dangerfield hit two free throws with eight seconds left in the game to seal the 75–71 victory over ninth-ranked Texas.

Although UConn finished the game with a run to win 78–60, Auriemma described the team effort as "the most disgraceful he's seen in the 32 years he has been coaching Connecticut".

UConn's coach Auriemma made a point of pulling aside Temple's Tanaya Atkinson and Davis for words of encouragement.

[52][53] UConn had typically beaten Tulane by wide margins, averaging 44 points in the three meetings before the February 18, 2017 game.

Crystal Dangerfield the starting point guard for UConn was also looking forward to playing against a former teammate Tyasha Harris.

Both played on the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Udine, Italy, where they help the USA bring home the silver medal.

[57] South Carolina scored the first basket of the game, but the Huskies responded with a 13–2 run, to pull out to a 24–16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

[58][59][60] Following the decisive win over South Carolina, Connecticut returned to conference play against Cincinnati at home.