STORRS — In an 85-41 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night, UConn coach Geno Auriemma became the winningest coach in college basketball history with his 1,217th career victory.
Auriemma broke the record set by Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer in January, and he became the only active coach with more than 1,000 career wins when Vanderveer announced her retirement at the end of the 2023-24 season. UConn also celebrated Auriemma’s 40th season in Storrs alongside associate head coach Chris Dailey on Wednesday with more than 60 former players in attendance. In honor of the ‘Ruby Anniversary,’ fans donned commemorative red T-shirts emblazoned with the legendary coaching duo’s faces.
Wednesday’s game also marked the long-awaited return of star guard Azzi Fudd, who had not played since Nov. 12, 2023 after suffering a season-ending ACL tear in practice last year. The redshirt junior checked in for the first time in 2024-25 to a roaring ovation from the Gampel Pavilion crowd and scored her first points in more than a year on a pair of free throws. Fudd finished with four points, a rebound and a steal in 12 minutes, making her lone field goal on a steal-and-score layup.
The Huskies had an uninspiring first half shooting just 4-for-17 on 3-pointers, and they also had a below-average start from the field, making 42.1%. Kaitlyn Chen led the team with 11 points before halftime shooting 57%, and forward Ice Brady had an efficient start with eight first-half points going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-2 at the free throw line for eight points.
Paige Bueckers uncharacteristically struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the first half and gave up just her second turnover in four games, but the superstar made her presence felt beyond the scoreboard. She had nearly doubled her previous season high with seven rebounds at halftime, and she was on pace for a double-double with seven points plus four assists and a steal.
Bueckers unlocked another gear early in the third quarter, scoring seven straight points for the Huskies to open up their biggest lead of the game. Star freshman Sarah Strong also came to life, making her first 3-pointer in six quarters off an assist from Bueckers to open up a nearly 30-point lead midway through the quarter.
Strong controlled the offensive boards for UConn finishing with four, and she narrowly missed the second double-double of her young career with 20 points and eight rebounds plus six assists, two steals and two blocks. After she shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range against North Carolina on Sunday, Strong led UConn going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc on Wednesday. It was the first 20-point performance of her career.
Fairleigh Dickinson gave UConn a brief scare early, shooting above 50% both from the field and from 3-point range in the first quarter, but the Huskies stifled the Knights’ scoring opportunities with another impressive defensive effort. The team finished with 12 steals from seven different players and scored 23 points off 18 Fairleigh Dickinson turnovers. The Knights’ shooting also fell off dramatically after the first quarter, and the Huskies held them scoreless for a 20-0 run over more than six minutes in the third.
Bueckers finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes, sitting out the entire fourth quarter after the Huskies took a 69-30 lead at the end of the third. Auriemma rotated all 13 available players onto the floor for at least five minutes against the Knights, and all of them recorded points. Sophomore Qadence Samuels and freshman Allie Ziebell both hit late 3-pointers to improve the Huskies to 32.3% as a team.
