NEW YORK — The No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team dominated No. 22 Louisville wire-to-wire in the Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday, routing the Cardinals 85-52 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Freshman Sarah Strong had her second consecutive game scoring 20-plus, logging 21 points against Louisville plus eight rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. The No. 1 recruit in the class of 2024 was UConn’s most efficient shooter hitting 8-for-10 from the field, and she also went 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
Star guard Azzi Fudd also looked like the best version of herself in just her second start of the season, finishing 6-for-10 from the field for 18 points including a team-high four 3-pointers.
The Huskies got out to an electric start offensively, beginning their scoring with a 3-pointer from Fudd assisted by Paige Bueckers in transition. Strong then followed up Fudd’s three with one of her own, and the Huskies went 5-for-9 from the field over the first five minutes of the game. UConn finished the first quarter on a 10-0 run as Fudd hit her second 3-pointer right before the buzzer, and most of the run occurred over the final two minutes with Bueckers on the bench.
The superstar point guard struggled throughout the first half going 0-for-6 from the field, but she led the team with six rebounds and added four assists including a second to Fudd for a buzzer-beater 3-pointer that sent the Huskies into halftime leading by 25.
UConn hardly missed Bueckers’ usual production thanks to Strong, who logged 16 points and five rebounds in the first half shooting 6-for-8 from the field. Sophomore guard Ashlynn Shade also had one of her most efficient performances of the season starting 4-for-5 shooting with nine points before halftime.
The Huskies went almost three minutes without a field goal to start the second quarter, but they also held Louisville scoreless for almost three minutes and managed to find production at the foul line. Bueckers scored her first point midway through the second on a free throw, and the Huskies went 7-for-10 from the charity stripe in the first half.
Bueckers found her shot early in the third quarter, hitting a layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions for her first two field goals of the game. Fudd’s hand also stayed hot with five points in three minutes, but she left the floor with a team athletic trainer after a collision with a defender with six minutes left in the third. Fudd returned a few minutes later and gave a thumbs up to her teammates on the bench, but she did not check back in for the rest of the game with the Huskies holding a comfortable lead.
Even after Fudd left the game, UConn continued to dominate with a 13-3 run over six minutes in the third quarter. Coach Geno Auriemma went to his younger players for much of the second half, playing Bueckers for just 26 minutes total in the win, and the less-experienced lineups weren’t as effective down the stretch.
The bench was led by Shade with 13 points and four rebounds shooting 6-for-9, but the Huskies allowed a 7-0 Louisville run to end the third quarter and an 11-0 early in the fourth that Strong finally ended with a 3-pointer. UConn gave up 19 points to the Cardinals in the fourth quarter after holding them under 15 in all of the previous three.
