Sarah Strong, KK Arnold power UConn women’s basketball in Senior Day rout of Providence
STORRS — The UConn women’s basketball team may have celebrated its Senior Day on Sunday, but it was the underclassmen who dominated in the Huskies’ 81-38 rout of Providence at Gampel Pavilion.
All four available seniors — Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Ayanna Patterson and Serah Williams — started against the Friars, but they combined for just 16 points on an emotional afternoon. Fudd led the group scoring 13 on 5-for-16 shooting with four steals and two assists.
The victory was a well-rounded effort led by superstar sophomore Sarah Strong, who led the team with 13 points shooting 6-for-7 plus three rebounds and two blocks in a season-low 13 minutes. Junior guard KK Arnold flirted with a triple-double logging a career-best 10 assists and eight steals plus eight points, and redshirt sophomore Jana El Alfy brough down a career-high 16 rebounds on top of six points.
Junior Ashlynn Shade and sophomore Allie Ziebell also scored in double digits, and Shade added five steals. The sharpshooter duo combined to account for five of UConn’s 10 3-point makes.
The Huskies came into Sunday’s matchup after back-to-back ugly performances on the road, and the team looked poised to continue its slump at home when the first quarter began. UConn opened the game missing seven consecutive field goal attempts before Fudd finally put in a layup almost four minutes in, and Providence briefly led after scoring the first points of the game off the tip.
But it didn’t take long for the team to wake up, and Providence grew visibly demoralized as UConn ramped up its full-court press. The Huskies held the Friars scoreless for more than eight minutes after their opening basket, and they finished the first quarter with 13 points off of a whopping 14 forced turnovers.
The pressure didn’t let up in the second quarter, and Providence’s 14 points at halftime tied the fewest UConn has allowed in a half all season. The Huskies forced another seven turnovers in the second, powering them to a 26-point lead despite the poor shooting performance. The team scored 18 of its 40 points in the first half off turnovers, hitting just 37.2% from the field and 17.4% on 3-pointers.
UConn’s rebounding noticeably improved in the second as its shooting struggled. After it trailed Providence by seven on the boards at the end of the first, the Huskies were down just 24-23 at the halftime buzzer and led the Friars 10-5 on the offensive glass.
The sold-out crowd spent most of the first half holding its breath every time Fudd pulled up from behind the arc, but they had to wait until the start of the second half to see the redshirt senior drain one of her signature shots. After going 0-for-6 before halftime, the star guard drained her first 3-point attempt of the third quarter that drew an explosive cheer from the fans, and she went on to hit a second two minutes later that set UConn on an 8-0 run.
The Huskies drained five 3-pointers in the third after hitting just four in the first half as Ziebell knocked down a pair in the final two minutes of the quarter. UConn went into the fourth on a 16-2 run and continued to roll, though it outscored Providence just 15-13 in the final frame once most of its core rotation players went to the bench.
A steal-and-score by Kelis Fisher in the final minute of the game tied the UConn program record for forced turnovers at 39, and the team finished with 39 points off of the opportunities created by its defense. It held the Friars to a season low in points on 31.9% shooting from the field.
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