2005–06 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team

Intercollegiate basketball season

2005–06 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball

Big East tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
Record	32–5 (14–2 Big East)
Head coach	Geno Auriemma
Associate head coach	Chris Dailey
Assistant coach	Jamelle Elliott
Home arena	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
Seasons ← 2004–05 2006–07 →

2005–06 Big East Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 9 Rutgers	16	–	0	1.000	27	–	5	.844
No. 8 Connecticut †	14	–	2	.875	32	–	5	.865
No. 13 DePaul	11	–	5	.688	27	–	7	.794
St. John's	11	–	5	.688	22	–	8	.733
Louisville	10	–	6	.625	19	–	10	.655
Marquette	9	–	7	.563	22	–	11	.667
Pittsburgh	9	–	7	.563	22	–	11	.667
Villanova	9	–	7	.563	21	–	11	.656
South Florida	9	–	7	.563	19	–	12	.613
Notre Dame	8	–	8	.500	18	–	12	.600
Cincinnati	7	–	9	.438	17	–	12	.586
West Virginia	4	–	12	.250	15	–	16	.484
Georgetown	3	–	13	.188	10	–	17	.370
Providence	3	–	13	.188	8	–	19	.296
Seton Hall	3	–	13	.188	6	–	21	.222
Syracuse	2	–	14	.125	9	–	18	.333


† 2006 Big East Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2005–06 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2005–06 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Coached by Geno Auriemma, the Huskies played their home games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and on campus at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, and were a member of the Big East Conference. They returned the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, and finished the season 32–5 (14–2 Big East).

Roster

2005–06 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	2	Tahirah Williams	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Immaculate Heart Academy	Montclair, New Jersey
G	20	Renee Montgomery	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	South Charleston	St. Albans, West Virginia
G	21	Nicole Wolff	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Walpole	Walpole, Massachusetts
G	25	Mel Thomas	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Mount Notre Dame	Cincinnati, Ohio
G/F	33	Barbara Turner	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	East Technical	Cleveland, Ohio
G	43	Ann Strother	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	Highlands Ranch	Castle Rock, Colorado
F/C	51	Cassie Kerns	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Valparaiso	Valparaiso, Ind.

Head coach

Geno Auriemma

Assistant coach(es)

Chris Dailey
Jamelle Elliott

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 12, 2005*	No. 9	Marist	W 71–45	1–0	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Nov 14, 2005*	No. 9	Indiana State	W 86–43	2–0	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Nov 17, 2005*	No. 9	Boston College	W 60–46	3–0	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Nov 25, 2005*	No. 8	Oklahoma	W 82–60	4–0	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Nov 27, 2005*	No. 8	at Cleveland State	W 85–51	5–0	Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH
Dec 1, 2005*	No. 8	Hartford	W 72–47	6–0	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Dec 5, 2005*	No. 8	No. 7 North Carolina Jimmy V Classic	L 54–77	6–1	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
Dec 8, 2005	No. 8	at Villanova	W 72–56	7–1 (1–0)	Palestra Philadelphia, PA
Dec 19, 2005*	No. 8	Holy Cross	W 81–54	8–1	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Dec 22, 2005*	No. 8	Hofstra	W 86–49	9–1	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Dec 29, 2005*	No. 8	Albany	W 78–44	10–1	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Dec 31, 2005*	No. 8	Army	W 85–46	11–1	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 2, 2006	No. 7	Georgetown	W 80–38	12–1 (2–0)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 7, 2006	No. 7	vs. No. 1 Tennessee	L 80–89^[1]	12–2	Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN
Jan 10, 2006	No. 7	at Seton Hall	W 93–53	13–2 (3–0)	Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ
Jan 12, 2006	No. 7	Cincinnati	W 92–71	14–2 (4–0)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 14, 2006	No. 7	St. John's	W 70–53	15–2 (5–0)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 16, 2006*	No. 5	No. 3 LSU	W 51–48	16–2	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 21, 2006	No. 5	at Pittsburgh	W 65–54	17–2 (6–0)	Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 24, 2006	No. 5	USF	W 77–47	18–2 (7–0)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Jan 28, 2006	No. 5	at No. 12 DePaul	W 84–75	19–2 (8–0)	McGrath-Phillips Arena Chicago, IL
Jan 31, 2006	No. 4	at Louisville	W 75–68	20–2 (9–0)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
Feb 4, 2006	No. 4	West Virginia	W 58–50	21–2 (10–0)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Feb 7, 2006	No. 4	No. 8 Rutgers	L 56–60	21–3 (10–1)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Feb 12, 2006	No. 4	Texas	W 71–58	22–3	Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
Feb 15, 2006	No. 8	Providence	W 84–58	23–3 (11–1)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Feb 19, 2006	No. 8	at Notre Dame	W 79–64	24–3 (12–1)	Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN
Feb 22, 2006	No. 8	at Syracuse	W 65–36	25–3 (13–1)	Manley Field House Syracuse, NY
Feb 25, 2006	No. 7	Marquette	W 74–59	26–3 (14–1)	Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT
Feb 27, 2006	No. 7	at No. 6 Rutgers	L 42–48	26–4 (14–2)	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ
Big East tournament
Mar 5, 2006*	No. 9	Notre Dame Quarterfinals	W 71–60	27–4	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
Mar 6, 2006*	No. 9	No. 13 DePaul Semifinals	W 69–57	28–4	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
Mar 7, 2006*	No. 9	West Virginia Championship game	W 50–44	29–4	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
NCAA tournament
Mar 19, 2006*	(2 BPT) No. 8	vs. (15 BPT) Coppin State First round	W 77–54	30–4	Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA
Mar 21, 2006*	(2 BPT) No. 8	vs. (7 BPT) Virginia Tech Second round	W 79–56	31–4	Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA
Mar 26, 2006*	(2 BPT) No. 8	vs. (3 BPT) No. 12 Georgia Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 77–75	32–4	Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport, CT
Mar 28, 2006*	(2 BPT) No. 8	vs. (1 BPT) No. 4 Duke Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 61–63 ^{OT^[2]}	32–5	Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport, CT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. FRS=Fresno Region. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	9	8	8	8	9	8	8	7	7	5	5	4	4	8	8	7	9	8	Not released
Coaches	7	7	6	6	9	9	8	8	7	7	5	4	3	3	6	6T	7	7	6

References

^ "No. 1 Tennessee 89, No. 7 UConn 80". The Hartford Courant. January 7, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
^ "Bales Leads Blue Devils to Overtime Win Over Huskies". The Washington Post. March 29, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
^ "2005 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

v t e UConn Huskies women's basketball
Venues	Hugh S. Greer Field House (1974–1989) XL Center (1975–present) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (1990–present)
Rivalries	Notre Dame Rutgers Stanford Syracuse Tennessee
Culture & lore	Jonathan the Husky UConn Husky Bird at the Buzzer Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Huskies of Honor Statistical leaders WNBA draftees
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics