The 2025 NCAA Tournament rolls on, and Monday night brings a big second-round matchup. No. 2 seed UConn (32-3) hosts No. 10 seed South Dakota State (30-3) at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies crushed Arkansas State in the first round, winning by 69 points. South Dakota State beat Oklahoma State to make it here. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. UConn enters as a heavy 26.5-point favorite.
This game looks very different from last year. Both teams had depth issues due to injuries. Now, they have deeper benches and more options. For UConn, that means head coach Geno Auriemma actually has lineup decisions to make. That hasn’t been the case in a while. South Dakota State head coach Aaron Johnston also has depth, but he went with a seven-player rotation in the first round.
UConn vs. Dakota’s starting lineup and injury report: Who’s in and out?
Depth will be key in this matchup. UConn’s top six players all averaged over 30 minutes last season, but this year, no one plays that much. South Dakota State, on the other hand, regularly rotates 10 players, but head coach Aaron Johnston went with a tighter seven-player lineup in their first-round win. He acknowledged that his team’s depth gives them flexibility, saying, “We have the talent. We have the depth where we can go into our bench and feel like it’s really productive.”
UConn’s predicted starting five:
Sarah Strong (#21)
Jana El Alfy (#8)
Kaitlyn Chen (#20)
Azzi Fudd (#35)
Paige Bueckers (#5)
South Dakota State’s predicted starting five:
Brooklyn Meyer (#31)
Mesa Byom (#24)
Madison Mathiowetz (#3)
Haleigh Timmer (#13)
Paige Meyer (#21)
For UConn, Azzi Fudd’s return has been a game-changer. Last season, she was limited to just two games, but now she’s thriving alongside freshman standout Sarah Strong and Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen. This depth has also reshuffled roles, pushing players like Ashlynn Shade and KK Arnold to key bench positions. “Just being a spark off the bench is something we take very seriously,” Shade said after scoring 20 points in the Huskies’ first-round win.
The good news for both teams is that they enter the game relatively healthy. UConn, which dealt with devastating injuries over the past few seasons, now has depth and options off the bench, including KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade. South Dakota State has a solid core but will need its best players to stay on the floor to compete with UConn’s talent.
UConn vs. South Dakota State: Huskies Dominate in Bueckers’ Home Finale
Both teams bring a different level of experience into this matchup. In the first round, they overwhelmed Arkansas State with their offensive firepower. Fudd and Strong dominated early, allowing Bueckers to play a supporting role, finishing with 11 points and four assists in just 22 minutes. That balanced attack makes UConn a heavy favorite.
South Dakota State will need a near-perfect game to pull off an upset. The Jackrabbits have the depth to throw different looks at the Huskies, but they lack a true defensive stopper for Bueckers and Fudd. Madison Mathiowetz acknowledged the challenge, saying, “Paige Bueckers is an incredible player, and we are excited to battle it out with them.” SDSU’s senior forward Kallie Theisen, who faced Bueckers multiple times in high school, added, “It has come a little full circle. She’s been a great player since high school, and she has a lot of eyes on her at all times.”
It is not just Bueckers with UConn. The team will go where she takes them, but they are as well-rounded of a team as any in college basketball. Years of insanely talented rosters have fans spoiled, but this Huskies team has more than enough chemistry and cohesion to go the distance. The 2025 NCAA women’s tournament is packed with star power—Hannah Hidalgo, Hailey Van Lith, Flau’jae Johnson, JuJu Watkins, and others easily join Bueckers on the list of names fans will tune in for. However, few teams get as much production from their role players as UConn does.
On any given day, any one of UConn’s top six players could lead the team to victory. In the first round, it was Azzi Fudd, who led them with 27 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Freshman center Sarah Strong led them in scoring 12 times in the regular season, the second-most on the team. Bueckers is their leader, particularly in crunch time, but the Huskies are far from a one-dimensional team.
To beat a team like USC in the Elite Eight, UConn will need the type of production from its role players they have received all year. When the two teams met early in the year, Strong dominated the smaller Trojans in the paint with 22 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block. Should both teams take care of business and set up a rematch, she could be the X-factor that leads the Huskies back to the Final Four.
At the end of the day, UConn’s depth, talent, and home-court advantage are too much for South Dakota State to overcome. Expect the Huskies to control the game early and pull away in the second half. The prediction?
Prediction: UConn 87, South Dakota State 59. The Huskies dominate from start to finish, securing a convincing victory.
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