Sue Bird’s number 10 enters the rafters; No. 1 UConn Women’s Hoops down DePaul 102-35
When Swin Cash had her number 32 retired in 2022, a sophomore, Azzi Fudd, guided the UConn women’s basketball team. Fudd dropped a fitting 32 points in the Huskies’ 83-76 win over the then-No. 3 Texas Longhorns.
Fellow 2000 and 2002 national champion Sue Bird had her number 10 retired inside Gampel Pavilion before Sunday’s game. A sophomore led the way in the contest that followed. Sarah Strong recorded 20 points in 16:45 as the No. 1 Huskies handily defeated the DePaul Blue Demons 102-35.
“To be with Rebecca [Lobo], with Swin [Cash], being the third player to have their jersey retired, it is really special,” Bird said in a media availability before the festivities. “The further you get away from a career, I feel like the more you really can sit in and realize how special and how much you achieved.”
Strong also recorded five rebounds, four assists and five steals. The 17 minutes mark the fewest the Preseason Big East Player of the Year has played in any game.
Sunday afternoon also marked an exciting day for one specific person in Bird’s family. The 2002 National Player of the Year joked that her 12-year-old niece looked forward more to seeing Fudd play than her aunt’s number retirement.
Connecticut’s latest Final Four Most Outstanding Player delivered with that extra spotlight on her. Fudd made four of her five shots from downtown for 12 of her 16 points and collected four steals. The Huskies’ most recent Big East Player of the Week posted those numbers and a plus-minus of plus-45 in 21 minutes.
Fudd and Strong outscored the Blue Demons by themselves (36-35) on 13-20 shooting with nine combined takeaways. How both former No. 1 recruits controlled the game impressed head coach Geno Auriemma.
“Sometimes I marvel at how they get the shots they get,” Auriemma commented postgame. “[No statistic] means more to me than how efficient they are in what they do.”
Kayleigh Heckel, whose favorite player growing up was Bird, matched Fudd with 16 points (at a 7-8 clip) off the bench. Heckel went after loose balls like she normally does, but she also made more of an impact on triple-double watch.
Playing in front of her idol, the Port Chester native complemented her offense with six boards and five assists. Only KK Arnold, who matched her career high with seven dimes, had more. Jana El Alfy joined the double-digit club with a season-high 11 points despite not grabbing a rebound.
UConn played inspired with the university’s most recent Basketball Hall of Fame inductee present. All 12 Huskies who entered played at least eight minutes; all but one of them scored. UConn made a season-best 63% of their shots and 67% of their season-low 12 three-point tries. The Huskies further paid homage to Bird with 30 assists on their 40 field goals.
Connecticut’s defense was just as dominant as its offense. 32 DePaul turnovers became 52 Huskies points. UConn collected 23 steals and 39 rebounds while holding the Blue Demons to 13 field goals.
DePaul started with three two-pointers, then made five threes, added another jumper, landed a triple, and sank three more twos. Guards Gina Davorija and Devin Hagemann paced the Blue Demons with eight points on three buckets apiece. Ally Timm picked up six points on two second-quarter threes, while leading scorer Katie Novik had four. Meg Newman (three points) took all of DePaul’s free throws.
The Blue Demons and Huskies forced a true jump ball on the game’s opening tip. Connecticut won the second try, opened on a 9-0 run and held DePaul without a shot on five straight possessions. Another 2.5 minutes passed after Novik missed a layup before the Blue Demons got on the board.
Even with their fouls piling up, DePaul used its tenacity on the glass to hang around. The Blue Demons snagged four offensive rebounds in 84 seconds and got three points out of it. Fudd responded with her first two three-pointers for a 28-9 Huskies lead after one quarter.
Similar to the previous period, UConn opened the second on a 10-0 run and forced a DePaul timeout in less than two minutes. Hagemann ended the scoring drought with a three from the elbow, but the Huskies countered with another 9-0 run.
Connecticut stretched its points streak to 13 before Timm nailed back-to-back threes. Kelis Fisher capitalized on her steal, and Heckel added five straight points for a 58-18 halftime advantage.
Auriemma put his starters back in and watched them spearhead a 19-6 run that lasted most of the third quarter. Strong highlighted the frame with a hook pass to a wide-open Ashlynn Shade (three points, four rebounds, four assists) on the outside.
The Huskies’ defense did not let up, even with their bench players in. UConn surrendered just four points, all via two jumpers, in the final frame. Fisher and Ayanna Patterson each added four points as the Huskies improved to 3-0 in games following number retirement ceremonies.
Bird mentioned in her speech that UConn was home, the place where her legacy began. Auriemma took it one step further, hailing her as one of the game’s greatest point guards.
Yet the two national titles and countless accolades she captured in Storrs are not what she reflects on the most.
“It really is about the moments in the locker room or the dumb stuff we did in our dorm room. … That is where a lot of my core memories are when I think about my time [at UConn],” Bird explained before the number retirement ceremony. “More than anything, [UConn] really is a place where I grew up, a place where a lot of who I am, as a person and as a player, that foundation was built.”
As Bird’s number settles into its new home, the Huskies prepare for their most pivotal road game of the season. Following final exams, UConn heads to Los Angeles, California, to battle the No. 16 USC Trojans. Tip-off from the Galen Center Saturday is at 5:30 p.m. on Fox.
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