UConn women’s basketball to open Battle 4 Atlantis against Minnesota

The bracket for the 2021 Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament is set. UConn women’s basketball will open up against Minnesota on Nov. 20 and is slated to play a former conference foe in the second round on Nov. 22: Either USF or Syracuse.

The other side of the bracket features South Carolina vs. Buffalo and Oregon vs. Oklahoma, meaning the Huskies could potentially play the Gamecocks or Ducks in the final. UConn is already scheduled to travel to both South Carolina and Oregon as part of its non-conference slate this season, though the dates have not yet been released.

Minnesota, coached by Lindsey Whalen, went 8-13 last season. The two schools have only met twice with UConn earning a 85-60 win in Dec. 1990 before taking the Gophers down in the 2004 Final Four, 67-58 en route to the national championship.

The Huskies most recently faced Syracuse in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament and won handily, 83-47. UConn hasn’t met USF since beating the Bulls 79-38 in the semifinals of the 2020 AAC Tournament.

The Battle 4 Atlantis will take place from Nov. 20-22 on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. This is the first year the event will feature a women’s tournament to go alongside the men’s. UConn and Syracuse are the only two schools to have both their men’s and women’s basketball teams in this year’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournaments.

The rest of UConn’s non-conference schedules includes a trip to Georgia Tech on Dec. 9 for Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s homecoming, a date with Louisville on Dec. 19 at Mohegan Sun Arena and matchups with Notre Dame and Tennessee at home and South Carolina and Oregon on the road — though no dates have been announced for those as of now. The Huskies could still add one more game to their non-conference slate.