STORRS — After Azzi Fudd’s breakthrough performance against No. 18 Ole Miss at the Baha Mar Women’s Championship, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma is ready to see the star redshirt junior back in the starting lineup.
Fudd scored 18 points, shooting 8-for-11 in the Huskies’ 73-60 win over the Rebels, marking her best offensive showing in two years in just her third game back from an ACL and meniscus tear suffered last season. The team is still taking precautions with Fudd’s workload — Auriemma made her sit out of the last 20 minutes of practice on Sunday — but she has played increasing minutes in each of her first three games including a season-high 27 against Ole Miss. When No. 2 UConn hosts Holy Cross at Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday (7 p.m., SNY), Auriemma suggested that Fudd could make her first start since Nov. 12, 2023.
“I was hoping what we would see in the Bahamas is someone that kind of acclimated back fairly easily … It still takes time to get into playing shape, but I love what I saw,” Auriemma said. “I don’t think anybody is going to go, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe Azzi is in the starting lineup, what’s wrong with him?’ So yeah, I think that’s a good assumption.”
Ashlynn Shade started the first six games for the Huskies, averaging seven points, 2.2 rebounds and two steals, and the sophomore guard will take Fudd’s place in the first bench rotation if Fudd returns to a starting spot. Shade played a season-low 16 minutes in the Ole Miss game but has been one of the Huskies’ most consistent defenders and has plenty of upside as a scorer: She has shot above 40% from the field in four of six games, including an impressive 7-for-10 for 15 points against USF on Nov. 10.
“I think it’s great that Azzi’s back. I’m just so happy for her that she’s finally come to the moment where she can step back on the court and do what she loves,” Shade said. “It’s a good opportunity for me now to watch her and learn from her even more now that she’s finally back and 100% … As an underclassmen to her, just kind of learning and trying to embrace it all is my goal.”
Shade will join sophomore KK Arnold and redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy as the spark off the bench, and Auriemma noted that all three are talented enough to start under different circumstances. Shade and Arnold each started 33 games as freshmen in 2023-24, and El Alfy is averaging 8.2 points and 6.3 rebounds playing less than 16 minutes per game in her first collegiate season.
“KK’s assist-to-turnover ratio is fantastic, so she’s done a great job of making the right play, and Ash just does Ash things. You just turn her loose, and let’s see what she does,” Auriemma said. “You’ve got two guys who started 30-something games for us last year and played a huge part in us getting to the Final Four theoretically being the head of that second unit … Now that Azzi is back, we’ve got something that we never had at any time last year: The ability to change the complexion of games. So I’m excited to see what what else is going to happen in the next couple weeks.”
Holy Cross isn’t a threatening opponent for No. 2 UConn, with losses to Quinnipiac, Vermont and Boston College already on its resume. But a home matchup with the Crusaders gives Auriemma another opportunity to experiment with his newfound depth before the Huskies enter a brutal December schedule that includes four top-25 opponents. The Huskies currently have eight players averaging at least 11 minutes per game after spending most of last season with just six in regular rotation, and the team has had 10 players available since Fudd’s return for the first time since Nov. 2023.
“Now that you have players available, finding the right combinations is not easy,” Auriemma said. “We’ve kind of made a decision as a coaching staff that we’re going to go to that second unit as much as we can, because I think we’ve got a second unit that is, technically, they’re starters … We’ve got guys that are going to be really, way different than what other people’s second units are going to be, so that’s it’s a great luxury to have, but it comes with some headaches.”
How to watch UConn women’s basketball vs. Holy Cross
Site: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs
Time: 7 p.m.
Series record: UConn leads 20-2
Last meeting: 77-37 UConn, Nov. 13, 2011 in Storrs
TV: SNY
Streaming: SNY.tv, FOXsports.com
Radio: UConn Sports Network on Fox Sports 97.9
