As various songs, like “Home” by Good Neighbours, played through Gampel Pavilion in a video honoring each of the UConn women’s basketball seniors on Sunday afternoon, you could sense the emotions. There wasn’t a dry eye in the arena during the annual Senior Day ceremony.
After defeating the Providence Friars 81-38, the Huskies honored their seniors Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Serah Williams, Ice Brady and Ayanna Patterson.
As each player walked to the middle of Gampel Pavilion’s court to greet head coach Geno Auriemma, they passed through with their family members, their teammates lined up on each side.
After each video, it was visible from each player’s emotions they showed, the love and admiration this squad has for another.
“I just feel very loved, surrounded by love, and then also, just like, super proud of the seniors I’m standing by,” Fudd said to the media postgame. “We’ve been through so much together […] So, to see where we are now and how much we’ve grown, and whatever that looks like for each individual person, I just think it’s so special to see where everyone is now in their individual journey.”
Besides Williams, every senior who was honored today has faced adversity at some point in their career as a UConn Husky.
“I can’t imagine being in that situation and keep fighting back and keep fighting back.” Auriemma said postgame. “So, hopefully that helps them going forward, whether it’s in basketball or in their life after they leave here. But, certainly, it’s been a journey, and certainly it’s been an epic adventure for some of them.”
To kick things off, Auriemma started his healthy seniors, including Fudd, Ducharme, Patterson and Williams with KK Arnold for their special day.
Despite the Friars grabbing the first field goal of the game, it was all Huskies from there. Auriemma transitioned to his regular starting lineup, and the Huskies dominated almost immediately.
Throughout the first half, Connecticut bombarded the Friars on the defensive end. Junior guard Ashlynn Shade was the head of the snake for the Huskies in wreaking havoc on Providence. The Indiana native racked up a total of three rebounds and four steals in the first half.
On the other side of the court, Sarah Strong and Arnold led the pack. With Arnold’s ability to create space on the court for her teammates to move the ball around, the guard drew up five assists on the half. Strong led the squad with 11 points at halftime.
By maintaining persistent full court pressure and shifting the defense, the Huskies forced Providence to only shoot 6-22 from the field. Connecticut led 40-14 at halftime, 31 of those points coming from the bench and 18 coming off Providence’s turnovers.
The Huskies kept their momentum rolling in the second half, setting a fast pace in the game to disrupt Providence on both sides of the ball.
Connecticut forced a total of 18 more turnovers in the second half on the Friars. This marked a total of 39 turnovers for the entire game, tying a program record.
“I thought we started the game a certain way, you know, even though it’s hard to start a whole different lineup, but I thought the pressure was a constant, even though I didn’t know the number,” Auriemma said to the media when asked about his squad’s defensive pressure. “That’s been something that we’ve done really well the entire season.”
In addition to matching that record, Arnold racked up four more assists for a career best of 10 and added eight steals to the box score.
By building such a hefty lead, the Huskies used their bench to their advantage, including Jana El Alfy, who racked up a career-high of 16 rebounds.
With this win for the Huskies, they broke Providence’s four-game conference winning streak. As Connecticut only has two games left of the regular season, Fudd describes it as having a lot of basketball left. However, on Sunday, Fudd wanted to soak everything in and stay in the moment.
“I cried right away, like, just seeing how everyone’s been through,” Fudd said, explaining how she reacted after seeing Patterson’s video. “It’s like, we know we have so much season, but just taking this moment to really, like, reflect and appreciate what these last four or five, it’s been like.”
Next up, the Huskies will play their last regular season home game at PeoplesBank Arena on Thursday evening. They will take on the Georgetown Hoyas with a tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can tune in to the game on TruTV.