Bookended by Sarah Strong and Kayleigh Heckel on the post-game podium following a 32-point curb stomping of Georgetown, Azzi Fudd admitted that the UConn women’s basketball team is giddy to get to Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
“I’m so excited, I think the team is super excited,” Fudd said. “We know how much of an honor it is. To be able to play there with this team, I’m excited because it’s my last year, so to go out, last regular season game, I think it’s going to be so much fun.”
Fudd’s fervor is warranted: Sunday’s regular season finale between No. 1 UConn (30-0, 19-0) and St. John’s (21-9, 11-8) is the first standalone women’s basketball game in the arena’s history, according to CT Insider’s Maggie Vanoni.
But it’s also the start of March. All-important March. Within the next five weeks, Connecticut will know its fate and the season will be over. The robust confetti already dumped, and trophies already raised.
But the Huskies can’t get ahead of themselves, especially with upset-minded Villanova, who proved to be a tough out at Finneran Pavilion two weeks ago, likely looming in the Big East Tournament.
March begins with the end of the regular season and a date with a fiery Red Storm team that’s won four of their last six.
Get to know the Johnnies ahead of Sunday’s finale.
Opponent Profile: St. John’s Red Storm (21-9, 11-8)
Joe Tartamella is one of two active Big East coaches to defeat Connecticut in conference play (Feb. 2021) and has pieced together his most complete squad in Queens since the 2022-23 team that won 23 games and made the NCAA Tournament.
The resurgent Red Storm are led by the high-low duo of Brooke Moore and Sa’Mya Wyatt, who combine for 23.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as the team’s leading scorers. Moore, a sophomore, has scored at least 20 points on five different occasions and is the clear-cut top option in Tartamella’s half-court oriented system.
Guards Beautiful Waheed and Shaulana Wagner offer supplemental scoring from the wing and have started 26 and 24 games this season, respectfully.
Tartamella deploys a relatively stable nine-deep rotation that leans on a defensive aggressive to create opportunities on the other side of the court. Only two Johnnies average north of 10 points per game, but nine average over 16 minutes per game.
St. John’s ranks 8th in the Big East in points per game (63.3) but 2nd in points allowed (60.4), holding opponents off the offensive glass while also limiting effectiveness from 3.