The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
All systems go
Fudd returns as UConn blows past Georgetown
UNCASVILLE — UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma sat on the bench with his arms crossed and his feet out on the court, crossed over each other. Relaxed as any coach can be during the first game of the postseason.
For the first time in over a month, the Huskies had finished a game before the fourth quarter even started.
But even more celebratory than that, UConn had its full 10-person roster fully available for the first time in five months. The second game all season that the No. 9-ranked Huskies had all active players suited up.
With star sophomore Azzi Fudd back available for the first time since Jan. 15, the No. 1 seeded Huskies looked the stronger than they have in over a month and routed No. 9 seed Georgetown 69-39 Saturday in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals to advance to Sunday’s semifinals. It was the first game out of UConn’s last 11 that wasn’t decided by single digits.
However, the extra depth didn’t last long.
Sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme suffered an apparent head injury at 3:10 in the second quarter. Ducharme took an accidental hit to the right side of her head by Aaliyah Edwards’ elbow under the Georgetown basket. Ducharme immediately fell to the floor and grabbed her head, visibly in pain.
She needed help to sit up and was immediately ushered into the locker room by UConn’s trainer. She sat out the rest of Saturday’s game and returned to the bench midway through the third quarter dressed in a sweatsuit with earplugs in and holding ice to the back of her head.
Fudd, UConn’s latest player to return from injury, checked into the game at 4:15 in the first quarter making her first appearance on the court after missing the last 14 (21 total) with a right knee injury. She and Ducharme were the first subs off the bench for UConn.
While it took a minute for the sophomore to get going, once she found her shot it was like she’d never left. Fudd fin
ished the game with 10 points, four assists, two rebounds and one steal in 17 minutes.
The Huskies (27-5, 18-2 Big East) looked strong on offense, playing smooth and in control. UConn only suffered one turnover in the whole first quarter as six of the seven Huskies who played scored in the opening 10 minutes.
But it was UConn’s defense that sealed the win and dismantled the Hoyas (14-17, 6-14)
The Huskies used their size in the post to block open shots and were physical with double teams.
Georgetown went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal to close out the first quarter and open the second. In that span, UConn went on an 8-1 run to take ahold of the lead early in the second.
By halftime, UConn led by 23 and had held Georgetown to just 12 points — the fewest points it had allowed any opponent in a half this season.
The Hoyas made just one of 13 shots in the second
quarter and shot just 14% percent total in the first half.
Edwards scored six of the Huskies’ first 11 points of the third quarter to record her 12th double-double of the year after heading into halftime already with 10 rebounds. The junior forward led UConn with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The Mohegan Sun crowd got on its feet when Fudd drained back-toback 3-pointers to get up to double-digit scoring and extend UConn’s lead to 30-plus in the final minutes of the third.
Dorka Juhasz followed Edwards with 12th double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds). Lou Lopez Senechal (14 points) and Fudd (10) also finished with double-digit scoring while Aubrey Griffin contributed six points and 11 rebounds.
UConn advances to the Big East Tournament semifinals and will face the winner of No. 4 St. John’s-No. 5 Marquette (2:30 p.m. Saturday) Sunday at 3 p.m.