Best in the West
UConn tops Iowa takes Phil Knight Legacy tournament title in Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. — UConn women’s basketball had lost its momentum in the third quarter. Shots were rushed and missed. Passes were sloppy and fell right into the hands of Iowa’s defenders.
But then Azzi Fudd did what she does best. Shoot and score at will.
After going 1 of 8 from the floor in the first half, the sophomore guard went a perfect 7 of 7 in the third quarter. She sparked an 11-0 UConn run and drained a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc to tie the Hawkeyes and bring the Huskies back into the game.
“You’re tired against a team that just keeps punching and Azzi punched back,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Being tired and facing all the attention she faces, she’s really been remarkable since Paige (Bueckers) got hurt.”
For the first time in four years, the UConn women’s basketball team can hoist a regular-season trophy.
The No. 3-ranked Huskies defeated No. 9 Iowa 86-79 Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the first Phil Knight Legacy tournament at the Moda Center. The tournament title is the program’s first regular-season tournament title since winning the 2018 Paradise Jam.
UConn (5-0) advanced to Sunday’s championship by defeating Duke 78-50 in Friday’s first round. Iowa advanced by defeating Oregon State 73-59 in its firstround matchup. The Huskies’ win puts them in solid momentum as they begin Big East play on Friday against Providence (7 p.m., Gampel Pavilion).
“It really was difficult to play against these guys (Iowa) because there’s just
so many different things that you have to contend with,” Auriemma said. “... It still comes down to you have to have players on the floor that are good enough to play in these moments, to make plays in these moments. And I’m fortunate, blessed that I do. We have a will to win. That was evident today.”
Iowa (5-2) was led by Caitlin Clark with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
After the Huskies were down by 11, Fudd spearheaded the Huskies’ comeback victory Sunday and finished with 24 points. Nika Mühl finished with 13 assists (of UConn’s total 30) to mark her third-straight game with double-digit assists. And Caroline Ducharme contributed 15 points (of UConn’s 19 bench points), three assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Aaliyah Edwards followed Fudd with 20 points and 13 rebounds (her thirdstraight double-double). She was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 18.5 points and 12 rebounds in UConn’s two games. The junior has stepped up immensely in Dorka Juhász absence. Auriemma said Juhász, who’s out with a broken thumb, will be out for UConn’s next game and likely also for its matchup against No. 7 Notre Dame next Sunday.
“There’s nothing that Aaliyah does that surprises me,” Auriemma said. “... And I hope that it just gets better and better and better for her.”
Aubrey Griffin (10 points, six rebounds) and Edwards got things going for UConn in the first quarter. A steal from Griffin at halfcourt led to an Edwards’ fast-break layup to give UConn its first lead of the game at 7:08. The Huskies then went on to end the quarter ahead by six with Griffin and Edwards combining for 16 of UConn’s 20 points.
However, the Hawkeyes began the second quarter looking like a whole different team than the one that started the game ten minutes prior.
Less than three minutes into the second quarter, Iowa strung together a 13-2 run. The Hawkeyes took over the lead after Gabbie Marshall stole an inbound pass from Edwards and drained a corner three.
UConn’s offense fell apart under the momentum shift. Shots were rushed and clumsy with rebounds also missed. Passes were intercepted and thrown right into defenders’ hands. Clark stole a ball mid-dribble off Mühl as she was bringing the ball upcourt to put Iowa up by eight. The Hawkeyes outscored UConn 27-15 in the quarter.
The Huskies were down by six at halftime after making just one of their 10 3-pointer attempts, while Iowa was 6 of 17 from deep. The Hawkeyes outscored UConn on fast breaks 12-4 in the first half — a stat the Huskies often base their attack around.
The third quarter started similarly to the second with Iowa getting hot early with an 11-2 run.
Yet, three minutes later everything changed when Fudd came alive.
The sophomore scored seven points in an 11-2 UConn run and tied the game at the 3:48-mark with a 3-pointer. When Iowa responded with a 3-pointer from McKenna Warnock, so did Fudd.
UConn ended the quarter on a 13-5 run to get back on top and in control. The Huskies outscored Iowa 26-16 in the frame as Fudd was perfect from the floor.
Iowa didn’t back down and began the fourth quarter with four straight points to regain the lead. Back-toback 3-pointers from Ducharme and Lou Lopez Sénéchal sparked UConn’s energy as the Huskies got back on top for good with a 10-0 run.
UConn’s win marked its third over a top-10 opponent within the last two weeks after beating thenNo. 3 Texas on Nov. 14 and then-No. 10 NC State on Nov. 20.
“You don’t know how tough you are until you’re placed in that situation,” Auriemma said. “You can talk about what you want, ‘We have a tough team,’ but at some point, you’re gonna find out. We just beat three teams. Three really, really good teams in the span of 12-13 days. We got another one next Sunday with a conference game in between.
“So there’s no easy games and you have to be able to bounce back, quarter-toquarter possession-topossession, game-to-game, week-to-week, month-tomonth. That’s what prepares you for what happens in March.”