STORRS — Until 10 days ago, the UConn women’s basketball team was preparing to travel more than 3,700 miles across an ocean to play its first game of the 2025 season at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Armed Forces Classic.

But when the game had to be abruptly relocated due to complications caused by the ongoing government shutdown , coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t disappointed when he found out his team would instead face No. 20 Louisville at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Maryland.

“I think it would have been a really cool experience for the entire entire program,” Auriemma said after practice Friday. “But we live in a strange world right now. The alternative is pretty darn good, though. To be at a place like the U.S. Naval Academy is pretty special.

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