UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (right) defends against Arkansas State Red Wolves guard Crislyn Rose (l) during Saturday’s First Round NCAA Women’s Tournament action at Gampel Pavilion. Photo by Steven Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
The No. 2 seed UConn Huskies trounced the Arkansas State Red Wolves 103-34 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. on Saturday. The result is about what one can expect given that the Red Wolves, the 2025 Sun Belt Conference champions, played their first ever tournament game.
Arkansas State guard Crislyn Rose opened the scoring with a jump shot for the quick 2-0 lead with 9:07 on the clock in the first quarter. The lead lasted exactly 12 seconds. UConn forward Sarah Strong tied the score on a jump shot and the Huskies never looked back.
Strong and guard Azzi Fudd combined on a 22-0 UConn run over the next five minutes. Strong scored nine points in that span, including a pivotal block on a three point attempt by Red Wolves guard Kennedie Montue, which Strong took the length of a court for a layup. Fudd scored 13 points during the run with four three-pointers and two layups. Each of the layups came after stealing the ball from Rose and driving to the basket for the easy bucket. The run was broken when Red Wolves guard Kyanna Morgan connected on a three-pointer with 3:41 left in the quarter to make the score 22-5.
The Huskies continued to play tough defense during the remainder of the quarter, which paid off with a 12-0 run with two points from Strong, four points on two layups from guard Paige Bueckers, and six points from guard Ashlynn Shade. The Huskies were a perfect 11-for-11 on two-point attempts in the opening quarter and led 34-5 at the quarter break.
UConn forward Sarah Strong drives while Arkansas State guard Wynter Rogers defends during Saturday’s First Round action in the NCAA Women’s Tournament at Gampel Pavilion. Photo by Steven Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
The second quarter was much like the first quarter. The Red Wolves succumbed to the fierce Husky defense. Arkansas State managed to make only three two-point field goals in the quarter from guards Wynter Rogers, Bella Weary and Crislyn Rose along with a three-point buzzer beater by guard Annaliese Griffin to end the half. Rogers added two free throws after getting fouled by UConn forward Ice Brady toward the end of the quarter.
UConn, meanwhile, outscored the Red Wolves 32-11 during the second quarter as they shared the ball which resulted in balanced scoring. Bueckers scored four points. Guard KK Arnold drained a three-pointer. Guard Kaitlyn Chen scored her first two points of the game, as did guard Caroline Ducharme, who found her way to the basket twice. Yet it was still Fudd and Shade who carried the Huskies through the quarter. Shade hit two three pointers and made a three-point play after getting fouled by Griffin, netting nine points in the quarter. Fudd, meanwhile, scored eight points with one three-pointer, one jump shot and a three-point play after getting fouled by guard Zyion Shannon.
Fudd scored 21 first half points as UConn led 66-16 at the half. Arkansas State would need to make up one point every 24 seconds for the rest of the game, while not giving up anything, if they were going to have a chance at a long-shot upset comeback from a 50-point halftime deficit.
Things went from bad to worse for the Red Wolves in the third quarter. The Huskies went on a 26-8 run in the quarter. The Red Wolves managed to sink two three-pointers, one each by Rose and Montue, to go with a jump shot by Rogers.
Chen, Shade and Fudd and center Jana El Alfy each scored two baskets as UConn led 92-24 at the end of the third quarter. With a 68-point deficit looming with only one quarter left to play, the margin for Arkansas State was now even less. They would have to make up one point in every eight seconds of play in the final quarter.
UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd led all scorers with 27 points during Saturday’s First Round NCAA Tournament game against the Arkansas State Wolves at Gampel Pavilion. Photo by Steven Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
Just because the impossible didn’t happen doesn’t mean that Arkansas State gave up in the final quarter. Shade hit another three-pointer to begin the scoring in the last quarter. Guard Shaunae Brown answered Shade’s three-pointer with one of her own. Then Shannon was fouled by Brady, and converted two free throws. This was followed by a basket by guard Kyanna Morgan, and suddenly Arkansas State was off to a 7-0 run, their first run of the game, as UConn led 95-31 with 6:17 left in the game.
The Huskies answered with an 8-0 run with two free throws by Griffin after a Montue foul, along with a later basket. Ducharme made a layup, and El Alfy sank to free throws after getting fouled by Rogers. However, the game ended when Red Wolves guard Mimi McCollister threw up a shot at the buzzer that went in for a last ditch three-pointer, to make the final score 103-34.
UConn went 40-for-68 (58.82 percent) from the field; 13-for-28 (46.43 percent) from three-point range; and 10-for-12 (83.33 percent) from the free throw line. Azzi Fudd led all scorers with 27 points. Sarah Strong and Ashlynn Shade each added 20 points. Fudd led UConn with seven assists. Strong led all rebounders with 12 boards. The Huskies recorded 13 blocks in the game, as they were playing a small team that had only one player who did not play the guard position. Strong secured five blocks in the effort.
“So we played today, and we didn’t beat the Lakers today. No disrespect to Arkansas State. The talent gap is huge. So you should expect to play really, really well. Now, no one deserves to shoot 70 percent or whatever we shot in the first half, but you do have to play at a whole higher level than the team you’re playing against because the talent is so great,” said Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma.
“Even though the talent gap is great, you still have to make sure that you play. So in terms of what was our effort like? What was our execution like? Do we make good decision more times than we make bad decisions? All those things you’re going to look at and go, you know, given the kind of game that it was and who our opponent was, yeah, everything that should have been done pretty close was done that way,” he added.
Even though UConn is a perennial tournament team, the first tournament game is still special, albeit surreal, for freshmen players.
“It was a lot of fun being out there with my team. Everything was pretty much going our way, so that really helped. Excited for the next one,” said freshman forward Sarah Strong. “I feel like we’re doing a really good job communicating and being there for each other and just talking through everything.”
UConn Huskies players Ice Brady (L), Azzi Fudd (C) and Ashlynn Shade (R) celebrate on court after winning their First Round NCAA Tournament game against the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion. Photo by Steven Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
Arkansas State went 12-for-70 (17.14 percent) from the field; 6-for-40 (15.00 percent) from three-point range; and was a perfect 4-for-4 (100.00 percent) at the charity stripe. Crislyn Rose led the Red Wolves with seven points and two assists. Wynter Rogers added six points, and Kyanna Morgan pitched in for five points but led Arkansas State with six rebounds.
“Regardless of what the outcome was or what this game looks, like God is still good,” said Red Wolves head coach Destinee Rogers. “We are so thankful for the journey we’ve been on this year. We’ve been counted out all season long. I thought that in spite of that, we were able to have a great season.”
“I think that the biggest obstacle that we faced today was that we played with a lot of fear. I mean, it’s UConn. They’re probably going to compete for a national championship. They’re great players. When you’re at the mid-major level, obviously it’s hard to have players liket hat on your team, naturally. But I think we could have absolutely competed a lot better,” Rogers said.
“You play in front of a sold out crowd. They make shots, the crowd roars and you’ve never been in that environment before. It definitely affected us today. You could clearly see that. But we’ll be back, and we’ll be better,” she added.
The Red Wolves players were happy to be playing in their first ever tournament game.
“I thought it was just like a good experience to, you know, be here and to play against a team like that, and now we know what to expect,” said guard Wynter Rogers. “You know our school had never been here before. We already said that we’re gonna be back and know what to expect. Hopefully it will be a better outcome next time.”
The Huskies are the fourth team out of the six teams in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament who scored more than 100 points in the first round. South Carolina, Notre Dame, Texas, LSU and Tennessee are the others. No. 2 seed UConn will now face No. 10 South Dakota State in the second round on Monday at 8 p.m. ET also at Gampel Pavilion.
