Sunday’s 30-point bludgeoning of bitter rival Tennessee was UConn women’s basketball’s 39th consecutive victory since Feb. 6, 2025 (ironically a loss on Rocky Top to the Lady Vols).
Since that fateful day in Knoxville, the Huskies have added a national championship banner to the Gampel Pavilion rafters, emphatically stomping three No. 1 seeds on the way, and just recently finished rectifying all three losses from last season.
So why even play these games – an 8 p.m. Wednesday tip against lowly DePaul – if Connecticut knows its destined for much greater?
Because, as Geno Auriemma would say, every game the Huskies play, regardless of competition, is an opportunity to sharpen their claws. There are a lot of problems with this undefeated, top-ranked wagon after all, according to Auriemma.
Those problems didn’t show Wednesday in Wintrust Arena, however; the Huskies (24-0, 13-0), catalyzed by Azzi Fudd’s 25-point, 10-field goal night, detonated the Blue Demons (5-20, 2-12) 86-40 for their 19th consecutive win by 25-plus points.
“The thing about Azzi,” Auriemma quipped after Sunday’s win over Tennessee, “she makes way more shots when she’s doing the other things – rebounding the ball, trying to strip guys, bring the ball up. When she’s doing all those things, the shots go in.”
Fudd outscored the Blue Demons in the in the first quarter, notching the game’s first points on a lay-in under the rim before rattling off eight in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers that barely grazed the rim on their way to the bottom of the net later in the period, to widen the Huskies’ lead to 16 points. She also nabbed a trey of steals and dished two assists in the first period – the “other things” that Auriemma alluded to.
Strong, newly minted on the cover of SLAM Magazine, was in double figures by the early second quarter herself, hitting on four of her first five attempts from the field to pair with five first half rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The sophomore forward finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 20 minutes.
Fudd and Strong combined for 39 points after a 53-point showing against Tennessee on Sunday, nearly outscoring the Blue Demons on their home court.
Freshman forward Blanca Quiñonez, the team’s third leading scorer remained out with a shoulder injury that’s kept her sidelined since Jan. 28. Tertiary scoring came from the hardy efforts of KK Arnold (12 points on 6-of-7 shooting), and Allie Ziebell (9 on 4-of-6 from the field).
Connecticut led by 25 after 10 minutes, getting 13 from Fudd, six from Arnold and five from Strong. UConn’s 13 made field goals in the first quarter wouldn’t be matched by the Blue Demons until the 7:22 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Huskies kept its 20-plus point lead steady throughout the second quarter but were limited to just 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting, turning the ball over four times while trying to work the ball into Serah Williams in the low post.
“I think we had five turnovers trying to throw the ball into the post,” Auriemma told truTV at the half. “I don’t get it. We need to clean that up… I get bothered by the turnovers that seem mindless.”
Strong and Fudd certainly heard the echoes of their head coach from the tunnel coming out of the half. By the third quarter media timeout, the Huskies’ lead swelled to 31 points, thanks in part to Fudd’s fourth triple and Strong’s sixth field goal of the night.
By the end of the third period, Connecticut had begun emptying its bench, growing its lead to 35 after Arnold hit her fourth field goal before the buzzer. Both Strong and Fudd, as well as Williams, were off the floor by the end of the period as Auriemma favored a small-ball lineup of Arnold, Kayleigh Heckel, Allie Ziebell, Ashlynn Shade and Jana El Alfy.
It gave the Huskies’ second unit more than a quarter on the court together; experience that will prove vital come NCAA Tournament time. All 10 players who checked into the game scored, including Kelis Fisher and Ayanna Patterson, who had only six and five minutes, respectively, to do so.
UConn, now on a 40-game win streak, will head back to Hartford for a Saturday showdown against Butler at PeoplesBank Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for noon, with streaming available via FS1.