Time seemingly stood still in Brooklyn on Saturday night, even if only for a brief moment. Almost 2.5 minutes into the third quarter, redshirt junior Azzi Fudd went down and clutched her right knee.
Play did not stop while Fudd slowly got back up, but she did not look the same. While she did not visibly wince with every step, the Virginia native trekked the court at a much slower pace than she did throughout the first half.
Yet Fudd still looked comfortable when she buried her fourth and final triple of the night. Redshirt senior Paige Bueckers quickly snagged the rebound on the other end and called timeout to get her teammate out of the game.
The 5-foot-11 guard, who finished with a season-high 18 points at a 6-10 clip, immediately headed to the locker room with the team’s trainer. Head coach Geno Auriemma did not take any chances putting Fudd back in once she returned minutes later. Auriemma noted postgame that Fudd looked fine, though no official word will be provided for a few days.
“She attracts the weirdest stuff,” the 40th-year head coach said about the injury scare. “It did not look like the worst-case scenario.”
Despite her departure, the No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team remained a buzzsaw that chopped down the Louisville Cardinals. UConn shot 52.4% from the floor and had a +24 rebounding edge as they clobbered Louisville 85-52 in the Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic.
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Saturday night marked the first time in over 10 months that Bueckers (eight points, 10 rebounds) shot worse than 30%. The last time that happened, the Huskies lost to the then-No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Storrs by double figures.
Connecticut beat the Cardinals by 33 points this time around. What was the key difference between both contests against an Atlantic Coast Conference program? Auriemma had considerable depth.
It started with sophomore guard Ashlynn Shade, who scored 13 points on 6-9 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy also snagged four boards and dropped seven points. The Huskies’ other four bench players combined for eight points, nine rebounds and five assists.
“Everybody had a huge role in tonight’s win,” Bueckers stated postgame.
First-year student Sarah Strong, meanwhile, bolstered her case for both Big East Freshman and Player of the Week. Strong was more efficient than she was on Tuesday night, with her 8-10 clip resulting in 21 points. Beyond shooting the ball anywhere from the floor, the North Carolina native also finished with eight rebounds and three assists.
“She does not think much when she plays; she just reacts,” the two-time Big East Player of the Year commented about Strong. “There is not a lot of things that Sarah [Strong] cannot do.”
Connecticut’s defense, meanwhile, forced an off night from Louisville. The Cardinals shot 16-62 from the field and 6-27 from downtown despite turning the ball over a season-low 11 times. Even with their 15 offensive rebounds, Louisville only turned them into eight second-chance points.
Despite finishing with seven points and four rebounds, foul trouble limited graduate forward Olivia Cochran. First-year guard Imari Berry spearheaded the scoring department instead, picking up a team-high 10 points off the bench after being shut out on Wednesday.
Three other Louisville starters also hauled in at least four rebounds. Forwards Nyla Harris and Mackenly Randolph combined for four points and four assists on top of their boards. Senior guard Ja’Leah Williams grabbed a team-best six rebounds and scored all three points at the charity stripe.
While he called his team’s performance “an embarrassment,” head coach Jeff Walz recognized the Huskies’ all-around approach in his postgame presser.
“They are a ballclub that if you do not come ready to play, all it takes is 4-5 minutes … and all of a sudden, it is over,” Walz explained about UConn. “You have got to be mentally and physically engaged every second you are on the floor. As soon as you relax for a second, they are back-cutting you and scoring.”
That lockdown defense limited the Cardinals to only 10 points in the first quarter. Cochran scored the first five on consecutive possessions but committed her second foul with 30 seconds left in the frame. Yet not even the graduate forward could slow down the Huskies’ aggressive attack.
Shade, Fudd and Strong combined for 22 of Connecticut’s 28 points in that opening frame. Although they shot 58% from the floor, the Huskies’ exerted some early control at the Barclays Center with their assertiveness on the glass. Five of UConn’s 13 rebounds in the period resulted in second-chance opportunities.
Those chances arose more often in the first seven minutes of the second quarter, one where the Huskies landed only two layups. Once Strong buried a triple from the top of the key, however, Connecticut’s efficient offense returned to form. The Huskies made four of their next five shots over the last 2:33 of the first half and went ahead 49-24.
Fudd and Bueckers continued UConn’s half-ending 13-3 run across the first three minutes of the third quarter. Even with the Class of 2021 No. 1 recruit’s absence, though, the Huskies’ defense tightened their grip. Louisville made only two field goals in the entire frame, both of which came in the final minute.
But those two buckets gave the Cardinals some late-game momentum. Louisville scored the last seven points of the third quarter and 11 of the first 13 in the final frame. Like she did in the first half, however, Strong’s three-pointer with 6:06 remaining ignited Connecticut on offense.
The Huskies’ bench spent the rest of the evening converting layups, each of them coming from a different player. The Cardinals only scored eight more points the rest of the way as UConn beat their fourth-straight ranked ACC foe in as many states.
The Huskies take on their third ACC opponent this season on Thursday night when they visit No. 10 Notre Dame. Tip-off from Purcell Pavilion is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
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