Whenever the UConn women’s basketball team entered Colonial Life Arena in South Carolina undefeated, they walked out with a double-digit victory. Had the Huskies suffered any losses coming into Columbia, they suffered a double-digit defeat.
No. 7 Connecticut entered the sold-out arena with three losses under their belt. In all three of their defeats, the Huskies had struggled shooting from downtown; it had held them back from outdueling three separate high-flying offenses.
Yet UConn looked like a much different team against the No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks Sunday afternoon. Instead of a program still trying to figure things out, the Huskies looked like a potent machine with multiple motors.
Connecticut sank 13 three-pointers and held South Carolina to 38% shooting in an 87-58 clobbering in Columbia.
“We had yet to play a full 40 minutes of great basketball,” graduate guard Azzi Fudd commented postgame. “We did that today.”
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No one had a greater impact guiding the offense than Fudd did. The 22-year-old guard scored 17 points in each of her last two third quarters, both against Big East Conference programs. While she did not outscore her opponent, Fudd again took over that period with 18 points and four triples.
Every time the likely Big East Player of the Week buried a three-pointer, it sank South Carolina’s chances of completing an incredible comeback. Fudd ultimately finished with 28 points, 23 in the second half, and six of her team’s three-pointers.
“It really goes a long way toward pushing her forward,” head coach Geno Auriemma said about the Class of 2021’s No. 1 recruit afterward.
Fudd was not alone on the offensive front. Three-time Big East Player of the Week Sarah Strong secured her sixth double-double and first in nearly a month in her second game in the Carolinas. Despite dealing with foul trouble, Strong shined with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Redshirt senior Paige Bueckers also had a double-double and even flirted with a triple-double. Bueckers had as many points as she did shot attempts at 12, but despite her shooting struggles, complemented it with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Graduate guard Kaitlyn Chen also crossed double figures late with half of her 10 points coming in the fourth quarter.
Each team scored 36 points in the paint, but UConn outright dominated South Carolina in the post. The Huskies won the rebounding battle 48-29—15-6 on the offensive glass—handing the Gamecocks their worst margin of the season at -19.
South Carolina failed to score 60+ points in a game for the first time since the Sweet 16 in 2023 when they beat the UCLA Bruins. From the beginning, the Gamecocks’ offense looked off. Part of those woes involved a pesky Connecticut defense that held South Carolina to 8-18 on two-pointers in the first half. The Gamecocks ultimately went 20-44 on those shots, but even when they got past the defense, some of their attempts did not fall.
Those mistakes, coupled with seven assists and an 18% clip from behind the arc, resulted in South Carolina’s largest home loss since 2008.
The Gamecocks’ two leading scorers did not even bury a triple Sunday afternoon. First-year sensation Joyce Edwards shot more efficiently than anyone, which helped her pick up 17 points. Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley, who tried to use her speed to spark a South Carolina comeback, shot 4-8 for 11 points. Senior guard Te-Hina Paopao, meanwhile, had 10 points behind two three-pointers.
Bueckers twice put the Huskies ahead in the opening five minutes of the 15th meeting between both programs. The Minnesota native’s three-pointer started the scoring; her two free throws put UConn up 9-7. Edwards’ layup gave the Gamecocks their only lead of the afternoon, but Jana El Alfy (eight points, six rebounds) answered with a floater.
That layup knotted the contest at 11 and also ignited a 12-3 Huskies’ run that lasted until the end of the first quarter. Paopao broke a 9-0 stretch with her second three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining in the period. Ashlynn Shade (nine points) immediately countered with the first of her three triples.
Connecticut led 21-14 after one period; they expanded their advantage to 15 in less than 2.5 minutes in the second. The Indiana native and Fudd buried triples on back-to-back possessions that forced South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to burn a timeout.
Another minute passed before the Gamecocks scored in the frame via a three-point play. South Carolina landed two consecutive layups and pulled within 10 before Auriemma called his first timeout. UConn immediately punched back, following the stoppage; the Gamecocks never got that close again.
Strong landed a contested three-pointer from the corner closest to South Carolina’s bench. Chen and El Alfy scored the Huskies’ next nine points; the 6-foot-2 forward ended the first-half offense with a layup. Connecticut surrendered two points over the half’s final five minutes; four Gamecocks turnovers and a stout interior defense significantly helped create further separation.
UConn, up 45-23 at halftime, took a 29-point lead before Fulwiley’s leaping block tried to spark South Carolina’s comeback efforts. Yet every time the Gamecocks began clawing back, the 5-foot-11 guard had a momentum-swinging response.
South Carolina became the third team over the past nine days to fall victim to third-quarter Fudd. The fourth-year guard dropped 18 points on 7-9 shooting with four three-pointers following her quiet first half. Although she did not outscore her opponent, the St. John’s College high school alum gave the Huskies a 26-point lead after three quarters.
The Virginia native accounted for Connecticut’s last eight points of that period; she stretched that streak to 13 early in the fourth. Fudd scored the Huskies’ first five points and, along with Strong, effectively iced the contest. UConn’s interior defense also contributed, consistently preventing the Gamecocks from earning second chances following their misses. All four Huskies who finished in double figures scored in the final frame as they halted South Carolina’s 71-game winning streak at home.
Connecticut has shot better than 40% from long range in each of their last three games, all victories by at least 25 points. As the 2019 Gatorade National Player of the Year explained, the secret has been a shift in the Huskies’ mindset.
“These last couple of weeks since our last loss, our focus has been different; our practices have had a new intensity to them,” Fudd told ESPN after the buzzer. “As a collective unit, we have been stacking great days, and it showed off today.”
UConn’s road trip continues Wednesday in South Orange, New Jersey, against the Seton Hall Pirates. Tip-off from Walsh Gymnasium is at 7 p.m. on SNY.
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