In its home opener, UConn women’s basketball unveiled its 2025 national championship and then unleashed a beatdown on the Florida State Seminoles, 99-67.
Azzi Fudd paced the Huskies with 23 points and five assists while Sarah Strong did her part with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Kayleigh Heckel was the only other player to reach double-figures, finishing with 12 points and a career-high six steals.
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Ayanna Patterson played in her first official game in 960 days after missing the last two seasons due to injury and scored on her first shot. Caroline Ducharme and Kelis Fisher also made their season debuts in the win. UConn used all 12 available players with only Blanca Quiñonez (left shoulder), Gandy Malou-Mamel (undisclosed) and Morgan Cheli (ankle) sitting out due to injury.
The Huskies got off to a slow start, making just two of their first 10 shots despite grabbing five offensive boards in that span — including four on their opening possession. That allowed Florida State to get out to an 8-7 lead in the early going before UConn finally kicked the offense into gear and scored eight straight points to pull ahead for good.
The Seminoles didn’t just go away, though. They started the second quarter strong and battled back to within six with 6:19 left in the first half. From there, the Huskies scored 22 of the next 26 points to go into the locker room up by 24. Fudd scored UConn’s last nine points of the half to hit the 20-point mark.
The Huskies kept its foot on the gas out of the break. They first put together a 15-0 spurt and then closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to build the advantage up to 35 points. Serah Williams came alive in the frame with five straight points at one point and seven total in the period.
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After an uneventful fourth quarter that saw Geno Auriemma empty out his bench, UConn came away with a 32-point victory. Next, the Huskies will take on Loyola Chicago on Wednesday at Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on truTV.
