No Paige Bueckers, no problem for the Huskies.
No Paige Bueckers, no problem.
Even with the superstar sidelined due to a knee sprain, UConn women’s basketball still steamrolled the Xavier Musketeers in an 81-27 win on Wednesday night at the XL Center.
In her place, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong carried the load. Fudd finished with 23 points — her first time scoring 20+ since the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament — and had more points than Xavier until the 2:52 mark of the fourth quarter. Strong, meanwhile, had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Both played just 20 minutes.
Allie Ziebell caught fire in the second half and finished with a career-high 17 points — her first time reaching double-figures. Jana El Alfy added 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Ashlynn Shade, starting in place of Bueckers, put up eight points and three assists.
As a team, the Huskies forced 32 turnovers — one off a season-best — and made more 3-pointers (10) than the Musketeers had total buckets (9).
Xavier made the game’s opening shot — a 3-pointer — and then it was all downhill. UConn scored 30 of the next 33 points and forced 20 turnovers by halftime. Fudd (18 points) and Strong (16) couldn’t be stopped and out-scored the visitors in the opening half.
The second half started out a lot like the first. After the Musketeers made a 3-pointer on their opening possession, the Huskies took over on an 18-2 run. El Alfy came alive in the third quarter with nine points while Ziebell chipped in eight points herself. UConn kept its foot on the gas in the final period en route to a 54-point win — tying a season-high.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in Big East play. Next, they’ll travel to the nation’s capital on Saturday to take on Georgetown. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET on SNY.