Geno and his team need to play more regular season games. This year and last year the UConn women played 29 regular season games while Stanford played 30 games in each of those years. So in each of those years Tara started off with an extra game in her pocket to work with. I realize the team was a little lite on first-line players the past couple of years; so that may have been a reason for dropping back a game or two( note - the team played 31 regular season games in 2013-24 on the way to a 40-0 season).
We certainly do not have a weak bench problem this year. On other threads people are verbally wringing their hands over the upcoming lack of playing minutes. An extra game would add 200 total playing minutes to the season. I would guess there will be two or three players this year who will not see a total of 200 game minutes all season.
The Wichita State addition may have moved us from 29 to 30(or preferably from 30 to 31).
Does anyone know when the complete schedule will be out?
I can't imagine that the "extra workload" of an extra game is a factor. Everyone associated with the team seems to agree that practices are more demanding than games. And an extra game would mean an off day or very lite practise the day before.
So...More games please!
You can only play 29 games EXCEPT for certain tournament exceptions. Generally, a 3 game tournament only counts as "2" games, so you play 30 games that year. The pre-season WNIT only counts for 2 games, so for the winner and runner-up you get 2 extra games. Someone (I forget who) last year actually played in 2 tournaments that each gave them an actual game. And then there is an extra game awarded for playing Hawai'i in Hawai'i I believe. There are restrictions that prevent you from playing in the same tourney every year.
So, UConn played 29 games because they didn't participate in any tourneys. One of the other years that you reference they played in the Gulf Coast Showcase, another year they were in the Hall of Fame tourney, etc.
It is very unlikely that any participation in tourneys is driven by bench strength, etc. It is, in fact, most likely driven by financial considerations and scheduling issues (i.e. timing and strength of opponents). For UConn, part of the problem is that their games at many of these tourneys would most likely not be on broadcast TV - although of course available on streaming - and that may also be a factor.
