Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
UConn
October 24, 2026 | Women's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. – Army West Point women's basketball opens the 2026-27 season Sunday with an exhibition at No. 2 UConn, as ranked in the AP preseason poll. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at the M&T Bank Center at Gampel Pavilion.
The Black Knights enter the season coming off a historic 2025-26 campaign. Army went 26-8, the second-most wins in program history, and reached the Patriot League semifinals before earning a bid to the WNIT. Army then beat NJIT in the second round and La Salle in the Super 16, becoming the first team in Patriot League history to reach the WNIT Great 8. The Black Knights were picked to finish second in the 2026-27 Patriot League Preseason Poll.
Sunday's game gives Army a chance to measure itself against one of the nation's best. UConn went 38-1 in 2025-26 and finished third in the final AP poll. The 2025 national champions carried a 54-game winning streak into the 2026 Final Four before falling to South Carolina in the national semifinals.
Head coach Katie Kuester enters her second season at West Point. Kuester was named the 2026 Spalding® Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year after leading Army to the WNIT Great 8. Her 26 wins are the most by a first-year head coach in program history.
Seniors Camryn Tade and Kya Smith were both named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Tade, a First Team All-Patriot League selection last season, averaged 12.9 points per game and ranked second on the team with 146 rebounds. Smith, a team captain, earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors after leading Army with 466 points, 348 rebounds and 107 assists.
Army returns four starters and 12 players from last season. That group includes captain Fiona Hastick, a 2024-25 Third Team All-Patriot League selection, and senior Taylor Wilson, who averaged 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Taylor's sister, junior Brooke Wilson, dished out 100 assists last season.
The Black Knights are 1-2 all-time against UConn. The teams last met during the 2007-08 season, when the No. 1 Huskies won 82-33.
Army opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 2, when it hosts St. Thomas Aquinas at 6 p.m. at Christl Arena.
About Army West Point Women's Basketball
The Army West Point women's basketball program competes in the Patriot League and plays its home games at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y. For more information, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWestPointWBB on Instagram and @ArmyWP_WBB.
Media Contact
Contact Toni Bianco, Army West Point Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, for all media inquiries.
tonibianco518@gmail.com | (516) 941-6310
Army West Point Athletic Association, Inc. (AWPAA)
AWPAA is an IRS code 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established to execute the United States Military Academy's intercollegiate athletics program. AWPAA is led by a board of directors that provides guidance to the director of athletics, who serves as the primary advisor to the USMA Superintendent and the USMA leadership on all NCAA operations. The AWPAA mission is to recruit, educate, train and inspire leaders of character who are committed to the Army values through an extraordinary Division I athletic experience.
