How UConn pulled away for historic victory over Tennessee

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On Sunday, UConn women’s basketball defeated No. 15 Tennessee 96-66 in its final big test of the regular season. The Huskies claimed the largest margin of victory and scored the most points by either team in the history of the rivalry. In fact, it was the second-largest defeat ever for the Vols.

This wasn’t a garden-variety blowout by an undefeated juggernaut, though. UConn went up big early, quickly blew the lead, went into halftime tied, then sprinted away with it.

Despite building a 16-point buffer in the first quarter, the Huskies needed a 6-2 burst to tie it up at halftime after the Volunteers briefly led late in the second quarter.

“We were playing so fast and so out of control,” Geno Auriemma said. “I hadn’t seen that this year.”

It stayed close into the third quarter, tied at 46 two minutes in. Then the Huskies used a 10-0 run to pull ahead, though Tennessee cut it back down to four on a layup with 4:45 left in the period. UConn looked to be in its first wire-to-wire dogfight of the season.

But by the end of the third quarter, the Huskies were up 18. 

“We didn’t let their run from the first half carry over into the second half,” Azzi Fudd said. “I’m really proud of how we rebounded.”

After a rough opening 20 minutes, UConn’s defense stiffened up to drive the rout. The Huskies allowed 19 points in the first quarter and 23 in the second behind some way-too-easy baskets for the visitors. But in the third quarter, UConn forced 11 consecutive misses while holding the Vols scoreless over the last 4:45 of the third.

Meanwhile, the team’s two superstars did their thing. They combined for 53 points and 16 rebounds, while Fudd led the team with seven assists and Strong added four. After the Huskies’ offense sputtered during a rough third quarter, they turned to the tandem to right the ship.

“We made a concerted effort to get them more involved. They’re so unselfish,” Auriemma said.

Strong got the third-quarter run started with a three-point play before Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams put it away. The two reserves scored the game’s next eight points, including a steal by Fudd to set up a Williams layup and make it 69-53. An Allie Ziebell three just before the buzzer made it 71-53 going into the fourth quarter.

“When it started like that in the third quarter, their eyes just got really big and they took off,” Auriemma noted.

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Fudd attributed Tennessee’s second quarter surge to mental lapses by the Huskies, which they cleaned up. She and Strong got them through the first two periods and change, but UConn ran away with it once Williams, Ziebell, and Heckel found a way to make an impact.

“We got a lot of energy from everyone making plays,” Heckel said. “That really helped us gain momentum and expand the lead.”

Ziebell added seven in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 after her monster game against Xavier. For Williams, it may have been her best performance as a Husky.

“They were chasing us everywhere,” Auriemma said on Williams’ day. “That left her some opportunities to play 1-on-1, and she capitalized on it. I don’t think she had a great first half, but she was great in the second half.”

After fumbling a 16-point advantage in the first quarter, the Huskies knew they had to keep pushing in the fourth. Fudd dropped eight in the final frame as she finished with a team-high 27 points while UConn out-scored Tennessee by 12 over the final 10 minutes. The Vols never made any sort of a comeback bid.

“They run their offense so well, so pure…it just got away from us,” Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said.

It was an all-around moment of redemption for the Huskies. Fudd, who scored just 10 points in last season’s loss, put up UConn’s first seven points en route to a dominant night. The other starters from the defeat a year ago — Strong (25 points), KK Arnold (six steals), and Ashlynn Shade (10 points, five assists) — all made contributions to the victory as well.

“Last year, they all felt like they played poorly,” Auriemma said. “So going into today’s game, there’s a sense of ‘We got a job to do. We got a game to play that just means a lot more to us than just a regular season game.’”

Meanwhile, as a team, the Huskies completed their revenge tour and have now secured wins over the three teams that beat them last year.

“We've talked about USC, Notre Dame and Tennessee,” Auriemma said. “That was a big part of their thinking.”