No. 4 UCONN vs. GEORGETOWN
When: Sunday, 4 p.m.
Where: XL Center
Records: UConn (14-2, 7-0 Big East), Georgetown (8-8, 1-6)
TV: SNY
Radio: UConn Sports Network, WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WATR 1320 AM (Waterbury), 97.9 FM-ESPN
KEEP AN EYE ON
Star attraction: UConn women’s basketball has its star player back.
Azzi Fudd returned to the court Wednesday against St. John’s after sitting out the last five-plus weeks recovering from an undisclosed knee injury.
The sophomore guard scored 15 points in 20 minutes against the Red Storm. But more than that, the No. 4-ranked Huskies didn’t miss a beat when folding her back into their system.
“She just finds her way back so quickly,” Dorka Juhász said. “So it’s not really very challenging for us ... just having her back is amazing and she’s always gonna be there. An offensive threat. A defensive threat. So hopefully, obviously, she just keeps getting better and better.”
Geno Auriemma also rejoined the program after spending the past week away to focus on his health. While Auriemma did coach the Huskies in New York, he did not participate in in-game or postgame media interviews.
With three days off between games, Fudd and Auriemma will get some time to rest. Will Fudd feel well enough to start against the Hoyas and play more than 20 minutes?
What about UConn’s last two missing pieces, Caroline Ducharme and Ayanna Patterson? Ducharme has been out since Jan. 2 with a concussion, while Patterson has also been in concussion protocol for the past week.
While UConn won’t need either Ducharme or Patterson to beat the Hoyas, the extra bodies will help give the starters some much-deserved rest after playing with under nine available players for the past three weeks.
Scouting the Hoyas: The Hoyas enter Sunday’s matchup on a four-game losing streak after falling to Butler 72-48 on Wednesday. Georgetown’s lone win in Big East play came on Dec. 4 when it beat Xavier 74-52.
Last year, Georgetown finished 4-15 overall in conference play and lost to UConn 84-38 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals in March.
A little history: UConn is 49-6 all-time over Georgetown, including winning both of the teams’ meetings last season. The Hoyas last win over the Huskies was on Feb. 27, 1993, when they won 64-62 in Storrs.
Georgetown has a Connecticut connection in freshman Morgan Lee, who was a two-year captain at Kent School. Lee was a two-time team MVP and was named an NEPSAC All-Star Class A as both a freshman and sophomore. She’s played in 11 games so far this season for Georgetown, averaging 0.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0. 3 blocks and 0.1 assists in 5.1 minutes per game.