STORRS — The UConn women’s basketball team’s performance against Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion was far from perfect, but the Huskies erased every mistake they made with a spectacular defensive showing from the entire team.
Top-ranked UConn forced 36 turnovers against Loyola in its 85-31 victory, coming just three shy of tying the program’s single-game record. The Huskies combined for 25 steals and scored 45 points off turnovers, also holding the Ramblers to 22% shooting from the field and sending them to the free throw line just eight times.
Sophomore superstar Sarah Strong set the tone for UConn on both ends of the floor with 11 points on 50% shooting from the field, plus four assists while adding four steals and three blocks. Redshirt senior guard Azzi Fudd was also a standout two-way presence, leading the Huskies with five steals on top of her nine points and three assists.
Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams had her best game in a Huskies uniform with 10 points and four rebounds plus two steals. But it was an all-around effort for UConn with 13 different players scoring points for a second straight game. Redshirt sophomore Jana El Alfy led the team on the boards with nine off the bench plus six points, and junior point guard KK Arnold scored in double digits for the second time in three games with 11 points and a team-high five assists.
UConn’s stifling defense generated nearly all of its offense in the opening quarter. Nine of the team’s first 12 points came off of Loyola turnovers, and by the end of the first quarter the Huskies were outscoring the Ramblers on points off turnovers alone. The team combined for nine steals, which it converted into 13 points to take a 22-9 lead in the quarter.
Freshman Blanca Quinonez, who missed the first two games of the season with a left shoulder injury, made her collegiate debut on Wednesday and added another dimension UConn’s already-disruptive defense. She had two steals in her first three minutes on the court, and her first career points came on a steal-and-score layup late in the opening quarter.
The Huskies kept up the smothering effort through the second quarter, holding Loyola to just five points and entering halftime on a 17-3 run. Fudd and Strong powered the offense with with nine points apiece in the first half, both shooting 50% from the field, and Fudd was a perfect 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. The star duo also combined for six of UConn’s steals in the half, and Strong led the team in assists with four points.
After hitting a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the third quarter, Loyola went scoreless for the next nine and a half minutes while the Huskies put together a 23-0 run capped by a buzzer-beater from Allie Ziebell to send the team into the fourth up 64-17. Fudd snagged three more steals over a two-minute stretch early in the third, and UConn broke open its first 40-point lead with nearly three minutes left to play in the quarter.
Coach Geno Auriemma pulled all of his starters after the run hit 16-0 and Loyola took a timeout, but UConn’s pressure didn’t let up with the bench on the floor. Nine of the 13 players who saw the court against the Ramblers logged at least one steal, and the Huskies’ reserves finished with 36 points combined. Quinonez opened the fourth on a 3-pointer that put UConn up by 50, and Loyola never cut the deficit below 47 despite scoring its game-high 14 points in the final quarter.