The UConn women’s basketball team will end the 2025-26 regular season with a historic Big East matchup against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, marking the first time the Red Storm have ever played a standalone game at the iconic New York City venue.
The March 1 matchup will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be nationally televised on truTV. It will be the first time the Huskies have played at Madison Square Garden since beating Maryland 83-73 in the Maggie Dixon Classic in 2015. St. John’s and UConn have met three times previously at the Garden, most recently in January of 2015 when the Huskies beat the Red Storm 70-54. UConn is 6-0 at MSG since 2000.
“I do think we should aspire to play a game or two here every year, whoever it is, and I think it’d be great for the exposure for St John’s,” Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said during Big East Media Day at the Garden in October. “(St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella) and I have talked about putting together an event, like a four team event, to play, so there’s a lot of lot of options, but I know the people here have been very responsive to that, very positive in their response. So I’m hoping that it happens sooner rather than later.”
St. John’s holds an all-time record of 11-7 at Madison Square Garden, and the team has won conference games at MSG in each of the last two seasons including a 65-43 victory over Butler on Feb. 16, 2025. Tartamella, in his 14th season with the program, has a 5-2 overall record at the historic arena.
“Growing up in New York, there’s truly no place like Madison Square Garden. The history, the pageantry speaks for itself and I never take for granted the opportunity for our program to play there,” Tartamella said in a release Wednesday. “We are excited to have another opportunity to compete at the highest level inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena” and need the support of our entire fanbase.”
UConn has a 52-18 lead in its all-time series with St. John’s and has won 15 of the last 16 meetings. The Red Storm handed the Huskies their most recent Big East loss with a 69-64 upset at the XL Center on Feb. 21, 2023.
