The No. 1 ranked UConn women’s basketball team was put to what many would say, their toughest test out of the entire season on Friday evening.
That would be against the No. 6 ranked Michigan for the Invesco QQQ Women’s Showcase, where, despite a second half that took things down-to-the-wire, the Huskies pulled off the win, 72-69.
Behind this win for the Huskies were graduate guard Azzi Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong.
Throughout the entirety of the first half, with forceful full-court pressure from Strong, the Huskies forced the Wolverines to only shoot 10-36 from the field. In both the third and fourth frames, though, is when Syla Swords and Michigan started to cut their deficit to as close as within one point in the waning moments of the game.
Fudd, the game’s most valuable player, was integral for the Huskies in pulling off this win. The Virginia native finished the game with 31 points and five rebounds.
In addition, Strong had a career night, cashing in 20 rebounds, a new career-high for the North Carolina native.
“This might be one of the best teams that he’s had,” Head coach of the Michigan women’s basketball team, Kim Barnes Arico, said in her opening statement postgame, “Sarah Strong is a really special, special player and Azzi [Fudd] just doesn’t miss. They tested us and we responded, we just ran out of time.”
Now, the Huskies will continue their journey in this showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena to face the Utah Utes on Sunday afternoon.
The Utes are coming off a 61-49 loss to Syracuse in their showcase opener on Friday night. A player on Utah’s roster that the Huskies will need to look out for is senior guard Maty Wilke, who averages 13 points per game, contributing 18 points in the squad’s loss over the Orange. With a majority of the Ute’s roster being above 6-feet tall, the Huskies will need to continue staying consistent with their full court pressure, especially down low.
With players, in addition to Strong, like Serah Williams and Blanca Quiñonez at the front court, this should not be an issue for Connecticut.
“I think these last couple games, she’s played extremely well,” Fudd said on Quiñonez after a team media availability on Thursday. “So, seeing her go out there and just kind of settle in and start to play, you know, calm and confident, I’ve been really proud of her.”
This will be the first time these two schools meet in each of their programs’ history. After surviving past the Wolverines, this second game in the Showcase series will give the Huskies a good chance to polish things they are struggling with, as the season progresses.
Tip-off between these two programs is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. If Husky fans cannot attend the game, they can tune in on FS1 or listen in at 97.9 FM from Learfield.