For the 32nd straight year, Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies earned a ticket to the Sweet 16 with a dominant 98-45 victory over Syracuse. It was only fitting that senior Azzi Fudd led that performance by tying a career-high 34 points, as well as a career-best eight 3-pointers.
Fudd had a quiet first round with only seven points against UTSA, but she bounced back to make a splash during her last college game ever at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. After two quarters, Fudd had the most productive half of her career with 26 points, more than doubling Syracuse’s 12 points. One of the most elite shooters in basketball showed out in front of her home crowd with no thoughts in her head.
“I felt like I reached flow state for a second,” Fudd said postgame. “My teammates were just finding me, setting me great screens. I don’t even know, I feel like I wasn’t even thinking. When I was open, I was like, ‘OK I’m going to shoot it.'”
Her journey at UConn has been a roller coaster ride due to injuries, including a torn ACL and medial meniscus that sidelined her for most of the 2023–2024 campaign. She has been a special part of the program and a key reason why the Huskies were able to win the national title last year, their first since 2016.
Fudd sad Monday’s game was “up there” with her favorite memories at her home arena. Her teammates also enjoyed seeing her take over.
“It’s kind of what Azzi does, not miss,” said Sarah Strong during the postgame press conference. “I’m happy to see her at her most confident self. It’s going to be really important in the long run. Just really happy for her.”
A dominant first half
UConn’s 53-point lead at halftime was the second-largest halftime lead in NCAA Tournament history, and it happened thanks to the Huskies playing excellent basketball on both sides of the court.
The team shot almost 66% from the field while their defense held Syracuse scoreless for 10 consecutive minutes between the first and second quarters. The Huskies got 30 points off 16 Orange turnovers while they themselves only turned the ball over three times.
UConn’s first-half dominance was enough for the team to let up in the last two quarters. Syracuse actually tied the second half 33-33, but the final score is a reflection of how far they fell behind early on. As for Auriemma, even he was impressed with what he saw his team do.
“You go into these games and you are kind of all over the place trying to think of how it’s going to play out, all the different scenarios,” Auriemma said postgame. “I can honestly say that I’m not sure that any of the scenarios that I thought about involved us going on a run like we did that first half.
“We were pretty focused and we were pretty locked in together. That’s the best 20 minutes that I’ve seen in a long, long time from our team. Not just this team, it’s happened other times, but this is about as good as it gets.”
Full team effort
UConn is dangerous because of its depth and how well they share the ball. The Huskies tallied a total of 28 assists against Syracuse, with six players having at least three dimes. This was an eye-catching stat, but not exactly new because UConn leads the nation in assists per game and also has the best assist/turnover ratio.
Fudd was hot on Monday, so she often had the ball in her hands. Sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel said Fudd told her teammates that she felt bad for not giving them more shots, but they all agreed she needed to be the one to take them on Monday.
“No, no, no. Those are for you,” Heckel said. “They’re your shots. We want you to take those.”
Besides Fudd, sophomore Sarah Strong has been another key leader for the team. She was business as usual on Monday with 18 points and just one rebound shy of a double-double. Meanwhile, freshman Bianca Quinonez continued showing her potential with 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
When Fudd only scored seven points against UTSA in the first round, Strong and Quinonez led the team’s offense with a combined 33 points. Heckel and Ashlynn Shade were also significant contributors with a combined 25 points.
This is probably Auriemma’s healthiest and deepest roster in a while, which explains why the Huskies are the favorites to win it all in April. UConn is looking for its second consecutive national title, which would make them the first team to defend its title since the Huskies got four consecutive championships from 2013 to 2016.
