Huskies strike gold again
Uconn women’s basketball freshmen Azzi Fudd and Amari Deberry help the United States beat Australia in the U19 World Cup gold medal game in Hungary.
Before they officially suit up as Huskies, Uconn women’s basketball freshmen Azzi Fudd and Amari Deberry added some more hardware to their trophy cases.
Fudd and Deberry won gold with Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, with a 70-52 victory over Australia in Sunday’s final.
Theu.s.went7-0inthetournament. Sunday’s matchup marked the ninth-straight appearance in the U19 World Cup gold medal game for two-time defending champion Team USA, which has now won eight of the last nine U19 golds and nine overall.
“I’m so excited for this team and everything we’ve accomplished together,” U.S. coach Cori Close, also coach at UCLA, told USA Basketball.
It’s not the first gold medal for Deberry, a 6-foot-5 forward from Williamsville, N.Y., and Fudd, a 5-11 guard from Arlington, Va. Deberry took home gold at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, while Fudd won with Team USA at the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup.
Fudd and Deberry comprise half of Uconn’s four-member 2021 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 2 overall by ESPN.
Fudd started all but one game of the tournament, averaging 9.0 points, 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 23.7 minutes per game, second-best for the team) She chipped in five points and six rebounds in the gold medal game. Her tournament-high 18 points on 7-8 shooting came in group play against Egypt.
Deberry, a reserve, scored 12 points and collected 14 rebounds in 40 minutes across the tournament.
The U.S. team also featured Lauren Betts (Stanford commit), Sonia Citron (Notre Dame), Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Sania Feagin (South Carolina), Diamond Johnson (NC State), Te-hina Paopao (Oregon), Jewel Spear (Wake Forest), Payton Verhulst (Louisville), Lauren Ware (Arizona) and Jersey Wolfenbarger (Arkansas).
Clark, who boasted nine points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the gold medal game and a team-high 14.3 scoring average in Hungary, was named the MVP of the tournament. She and Citron (13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds per game) made the tournament’s All-star Five Team.