HARTFORD, Conn. – Azzi Fudd and the UConn Huskies got a scare prior to Sunday's game, then took the court and beat another top-10 opponent.
Fudd matched her career-high with 32 points and No. 5 UConn toppled 10th-ranked North Carolina State 91-69.
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The day started with a scary moment when longtime Huskies associate head coach Chris Dailey fainted after the national anthem. She was attended to on the court by medical personnel for a few minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. The 63-year-old waved to the crowd and smiled as she left the court.
“CD is good. everything tested out pretty good,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of Dailey, who was taken to a hospital. “There's nothing serious. nothing threatening. She’s alert and awake. She's going to be going home soon. So she’s good.”
The UConn players were shaken and tearing up as they went back to the locker room as the start of the game was delayed 10 minutes. Dailey texted the players during the game that she was OK.
“Guys, I’m sorry for the drama I'm fine,” UConn guard Nika Muhl said Dailey had texted. “We played this game for CD.”
Auriemma said he wasn't sure what to expect when the team returned to the court for the game but was “prepared for anything.”
“There wasn’t much you could say other than she’s fine. If she left here other under circumstances, it would be more difficult to go out there,” he said. "She left awake, alert and fine and that made them feel a little bit better. The way we started set the tone for the rest of the game.”
UConn (3-0) scored the first nine points en route to a 23-13 lead after one quarter. Fudd had 11 points in the period and 22 at the half as the Huskies led 40-33.
Diamond Johnson kept the Wolfpack in the game with 13 points in the opening 20 minutes.
“We had 19 turnovers. nine assists. That’s not team basketball," N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. "We got to figure that out.”
Fudd, who also had a career-high 32 in the win over No. 3 Texas on Monday night, stayed hot for the Huskies. And Lou Lopez Senechal got going in the second half after being scoreless in the first — she had 12 points in the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.
Lopez Senechal finished with 20. Muhl broke the school record with 15 assists and Aaliyah Edwards added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Johnson finished with 14 points for the Wolfpack (4-1).
The game was a rematch of the team's double-OT thriller in the Elite Eight of last season's NCAA Tournament that was played down Interstate 95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
SIDELINED
UConn graduate forward Dorka Juhász will miss at least three games after breaking her left thumb in the Huskies' win over No. 3 Texas on Monday. Juhász was averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first two games of the season.
The Huskies have already lost sophomore guard Paige Bueckers to a torn ACL in her left knee that she suffered in early August. Freshman Ice Brady suffered a dislocated patella in her right knee in October and is out for the season.
Sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme has been dealing with neck stiffness. She played 11 minutes against N.C. State, but was scoreless.
UP NEXT
North Carolina State: Plays Vanderbilt in the Cancun Challenge on Thursday.
UConn: Travels to Oregon to take on Duke in the Phil Knight Invitational on Friday.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25