Azzi Fudd dropped 19 points in the first half on Friday night to lead UConn to the blowout win. (Thien-An Truong/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
(Thien-An Truong/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
It wasn’t another record-setting outing from Paige Bueckers, but the Huskies still picked up a dominant win on Friday night.
Now, Bueckers and No. 2 UConn will have a shot at claiming their first national championship in nearly a decade.
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The Huskies, thanks to a huge first half from Azzi Fudd, rolled over No. 1 UCLA in the Final Four on Friday night. They grabbed an 85-51 win over the Bruins at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. That officially sets up a rematch against South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday afternoon. It was also the largest win margin in a Final Four game in history.
Bueckers, who has scored at least 31 points in each of the last three games, was held to just 12 points in Friday’s blowout win. This time, though, it was all Fudd.
Fudd dropped 19 points and shot 7-of-11 from the field to give UConn a 20-point lead at the break. She’s scored or assisted on 22 of UConn’s first half points, too, which matched the Bruins’ total points scored in the first 20 minutes. UCLA also had 14 turnovers in the first half — which is what the Bruins have been averaging per game throughout the tournament. The Bruins gave up 19 points off those turnovers, too, and made just 10 field goals as a team in the first half. Half of those made field goals came from Lauren Betts.
While Bueckers only had six points in the first half, her lone assist in the first 20 minutes was incredible.
Fudd slowed down in the second half, but Sarah Strong took her place. Strong finished with a team-high 22 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter, and eight rebounds and powered the Huskies to the dominant 34-point win without any issue. UCLA couldn’t cut into the deficit at all in the second half, and they managed just four field goals in the third quarter. From there, UConn quickly wrapped up the game in the final 10 minutes.
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Lauren Betts led the Bruins with 26 points and five rebounds in the loss. She was the only player on the team to hit double figures. They shot just 20-of-52 from the field as a team and had 19 total turnovers. It was their fewest total points scored as a team all season. The Bruins, who were the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, were playing in their first ever Final Four.
Strong, who shot 9-of-13 from the field with four 3-pointers, is now the third freshman in UConn history to drop 20 points or more in a Final Four game, along with Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. Fudd finished with 19 points and three steals, and Bueckers added 16 points. The Huskies shot 55% from the field as a group.
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UConn will now get to return to the national championship game for the first time since 2022, where the Huskies fell to South Carolina. They’ve not won a national title since 2016, when they picked up their fourth straight championship and sixth in an eight-year stretch. The Gamecocks reached the title game after handling Texas in the first Final Four game of the night on Friday.
The Huskies have looked unstoppable in recent weeks. They’re on a 15-game win streak now, all of which have been by double digits, and nobody can seem to slow them down. South Carolina tried back in February, too, but Fudd and the Huskies stunned the Gamecocks in a near-30-point blowout that ended South Carolina’s 71-game home win streak.
Though Sunday’s game isn’t likely to be a repeat of their first battle this season, Bueckers and the Huskies are clearly on a mission to end her career with a championship. It’s going to take South Carolina’s absolute best effort to derail them.
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