“Freshman of the year”: UConn fans hype up Sarah Strong after another impressive display

UConn women's basketball star Sarah Strong showed why she deserved to be considered the nation's best freshman as the seventh-ranked Huskies dismantled host Villanova 83-52 on Sunday. Strong scored 21 points and added five rebounds and four assists to lead UConn to a 14-2 mark.

Following the game, UConn's Instagram page posted the freshman's stats, alongside her photo, with the caption:

"Sarah Strong with another big performance at Villanova. 21 points, 9-12 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5 rebounds, 4 assists."

Fans praised the standout freshman for her performance in the comments section.

A fan wrote, "Sarah strong you amaze me."

Another wrote, "Freshman of the year right there."

A fan commented, "Sarah strong thank you for everything you do 🙂‍↕️."

Another commented, "She’s a baller."

Fans comment on Sarah Strong's steller stats for UConn win vs Villanova on IG. Image via @uconnwbb

Geno Auriemma believes Sarah Strong can take UConn to the top this season

Legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma has high hopes for Sarah Strong to carry the team to finish strongly at the top in March. Strong led the Huskies as she shot 9 of 12, with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first quarter.

However, Auriemma has bigger plans for the freshman to be at the forefront of the Huskies' ambitious plans for the season.

“No matter what Sarah does out there, it doesn’t surprise me — and I keep saying she doesn’t do enough,” Auriemma said. "She could probably get 40 (points) every night if she wanted to, but that’s not who she is. And at the same time, the more time she has the ball in her hands, the more effective we are, because you can’t guard her by yourself.

“All the things that you need to be a terrific basketball player, she has those. And there are a lot of kids that have those same things, but they don’t have the personality and the maturity to bring them all together. … I would like to think that if anything great is going to happen to this team, it’s going to be because she’s at the forefront of it.”

The only two losses for UConn (13-2, 4-0 Big East) have come from Hannah Hidalgo's No. 3-ranked Notre Dame and JuJu Watkins' No. 4 Southern California. The Huskies will focus on their next game, which is against the Xavier Musketeers (5-9, 0-3) at home on Wednesday.