No. 1 UConn women’s basketball used a big second half to throttle the No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers 96-66 at PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday. The 30-point margin of victory is the largest for either team in the history
of the rivalry.
The Huskies led by as many as 16 in the first quarter, only for the Vols to erase it and go ahead late in the second quarter. UConn pulled even just before the half, then out-scored the visitors 54-24 in the second half.
The Huskies’ two superstars led the way. Azzi Fudd put up 27 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals while Sarah Strong had 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Serah Williams had the best game of her UConn career, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds — three of which were offensive — and two blocks while making plenty of plays that didn’t show up in the stat sheet. Ashlynn Shade (10 points, five assists), Allie Ziebell (10 points) and Kayleigh Heckel (eight points, five rebounds, three assists) all helped out as well.
Blanca Quiñonez missed her second straight game with a shoulder injury.
Fudd scored the game’s first seven points, which sparked UConn to an 18-3 lead through the first seven minutes. The Huskies’ defense gave Tennessee fits early on, holding the visitors to a 1-10 start from the field while forcing four turnovers.
Then the contest flipped. The Vols out-scored UConn 17-7 over the final 3:45 of the opening quarter to cut the gap down to six. The teams traded baskets early in the second quarter before Tennessee scored 10 straight points to take its first lead of the day. UConn answered right back with six of the last eight points of the half to go into the locker room tied at 42 all.
The teams traded the lead early in the third quarter before the Huskies exploded for a 10-0 run that put them ahead for good. Tennessee briefly stopped the bleeding with two straight buckets but UConn wouldn’t be denied. The Huskies closed the period on a 14-0 burst — capped off by a 3-pointer from Ziebell in the dying seconds — to take a commanding 71-53 lead.
UConn didn’t let up. The hosts used another run — this time 12-0 — to turn it into a rout. In the end, the Huskies came out with a 30-point victory — the second-largest defeat in Tennessee’s NCAA history.
With the win, UConn improves to 23-0 on the season. Next, the Huskies will return to Big East play for good when they travel to DePaul on Wednesday.
