UConn women’s basketball smoked the USF Bulls, 85-51, in a wire-to-wire victory in Tampa on Tuesday.
Sarah Strong notched her fourth double-double of the season with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists. Blanca Quiñonez put up 13 points, hitting 3-4 shots from deep, while Azzi Fudd and Ashlynn Shade also reached double-figures with 10 points apiece. Allie Ziebell and Kayleigh Heckel each had eight points.
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The Huskies used 12 of 13 possible players in the victory and 11 scored. Kelis Fisher (five points) and Jana El Alfy (five points, four rebounds) looked good in limited minutes despite the scoreline.
UConn opened on a 10-0 run, though USF answered right back with straight straight points of its own. When the Huskies responded with a 12-0 burst, the Bulls couldn’t keep pace. UConn kept rolling, scoring the first nine points of the second quarter.
At the half, the Huskies had tripled up the hosts, 48-16.
“That first half, didn’t have a lot to complain about. It was kinda of a lousy halftime,“ Geno Auriemma said to the broadcast postgame.
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The final 20 minutes were significantly closer. UConn only out-scored USF by four in the third quarter while the hosts won the final period by two. It didn’t ultimately matter, though. In the end, the Huskies finished out a 34-point victory.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 8-0 on the season. Next, they’ll return home to take on DePaul at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday in its penultimate home of 2025. Sue Bird’s jersey will be retired at the contest.
