MONTVILLE, Conn. — Stellar defense and command on the boards led UConn to a 69-39 victory over Georgetown to advance to the Big East Tournament Semifinals.
An extra spark was added pregame as sophomore guard Azzi Fudd made her much-anticipated return after missing 14 games with a knee injury. She said she wanted to contribute to the team for so long when she was missing time, and she couldn't wait to play on Saturday.
"I was mentally prepared," said Fudd. "I woke up this morning and was very excited.
Fudd ended the game playing a total of 17 minutes scoring 10 points on 3-9 shooting.
"The impact that she's gonna have on the team, you can't calculate that, because she does everything," said Head Coach Geno Auriemma. "When you talk about a player that's good at many things, you benefit from it. And the other team knows it."
Aaliyah Edwards led the way scoring and rebounding with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. She also had four blocks to round out her dominant performance.
Both teams started slow in the first quarter with the Hoyas shooting 17.4% from the floor and the Huskies shooting only 30.8%. But what allowed UConn to get ahead was Georgetown's early foul trouble as UConn went 9-11 from the stripe which got them a nine-point lead.
The Huskies' defense continued to stifle Georgetown as though in the first five minutes of the second they only managed to score two points.
"We wanted to keep up the intensity defensively," said Edwards.
With all their great defense, however, poor shooting continued as they went 0-8 from three until a Lou Lopez Senechal three broke their cold streak late in the quarter.
Caroline Ducharme went down midway through the second with what appeared to be an accidental elbow from Edwards and she was walked off the floor by the training staff. She did not return to action but was seen on the bench. Ducharme missed time previously in the season with an injury.
"I've never seen a kid have these circumstances happen to her," said Auriemma. "Caroline said she wants to play tomorrow and right now we're going under the assumption that she will."
The Huskies led 35-12 at half holding Georgetown to 5-36 from the field.
In the third, UConn's offense got rolling scoring 26 points, 10 of those coming from Edwards. They also found their three-point shot again shooting 3-6 from beyond the arc.
"There was a 20-minute stretch where I think we played great on both sides of the ball," said Auriemma.
Fudd's two threes in the third got the crowd in a frenzy as smiles came across the Huskie player's faces.
"Everyone was happy to have her on the court," said Edwards. "Azzi coming back I think she adds a lot to the team offensively and defensively."
In the fourth, they cooled back off but it didn't matter much as the third-quarter scoring boost had the Huskies leading comfortably.
UConn coasted to a victory and is now set to face the winner of Marquette and St. John's on Sunday.
"The final score wasn't really important said," said Auriemma. "You just want to get your feet wet and get bodies out there."
Daniel Dashefsky is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at ddashefsky@fox61.com.
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