UConn women’s basketball opened its December gauntlet with an 85-52 dismantling of the No. 22 Louisville Cardinals in the Women’s Champions Classic at Barclays Center on Saturday night.
The Huskies experienced an injury scare when Azzi Fudd left the game with an apparent right knee injury. She awkwardly collided with a Louisville player while trying to get past a screen and immediately grabbed her knee as she fell to the floor. She briefly remained in the contest — and actually hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession — but checked out at the next whistle and went straight into the locker room.
Fudd appeared to avoid anything major.
“She was walking around, she was fine. It didn’t look like the worst case scenario,” Geno Auriemma said postgame. :We’ll know more when we get back but — I hope I’m right — but it’s not that worst-case scenario we’ve seen so many times.”
Fudd put up 18 points and hit 4-7 from three in just 18 minutes in the win.
Elsewhere, Sarah Strong led the way with 21 points to go with eight boards while Ashlynn Shade also reached double-figures with 13 points. Paige Bueckers had a bad shooting night, finishing 2-11 from the floor en route to eight points, though she racked up 10 rebounds and six assists.
UConn won the rebounding battle 52-28 and had 22 assists on 33 baskets. The Huskies never trailed.
UConn put together arguably its best quarter of the season in the first. The Huskies scored at will, hitting shots from all three levels while ripping off runs of 5-0, 6-0 and 10-0. They were up 28-10 after 10 minutes — and Bueckers hadn’t even scored yet.
But as has been the case all season, UConn couldn’t sustain it. The Huskies struggled out of the gate in the second quarter, failing to score for the first 2:32 while also turning the ball over at a higher clip. They eventually found their groove again in the final minutes and still went into the locker room with a commanding 49-24 lead.
After the break, UConn delivered the killshot. The Huskies came out with 10 straight points, gave up a pair of free throws, then answered with 13 more points in a row. Louisville didn’t make a field goal in the third quarter until 56 seconds remained.
After an uneventful final period, UConn walked out with a 33-point victory.
With the win, the Huskies stay perfect at 8-0 on the young season. Next, they will prepare for their first true road game when they travel to No. 10 Notre Dame on Thursday, Dec. 12.
