At the end of the first quarter between the UConn women’s basketball team and Ohio State on Sunday, it looked like the Huskies were in for a back-and-forth battle.
By halftime, the game was all but over.
A 23-6 second quarter helped power No. 1 UConn to a 100-68 rout of the Buckeyes at PeoplesBank Arena, fueled by a dominant showing from superstar Sarah Strong. The sophomore forward laid the foundation for her national player of the year case with her first. double-double of the season, tying her career high in points with 29 plus 13 rebounds. She added seven assists plus a team-high five steals and three blocks.
Senior center Serah Williams and freshman forward Blanca Quinonez, the other members of UConn’s frontcourt trio, also had their best performances of the season. In just her second collegiate game, Quinonez dropped 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, also logging four rebounds, two steals and a block. Williams put up 12 points shooting 5-for-7 with three boards and a steal.
Star guard Azzi Fudd added 19 points on a season-high five made 3-pointers shooting 55.6% beyond the arc. The redshirt senior set a new career-high with seven assists, also logging three rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Huskies went shot for shot with Ohio State in the first quarter and gave up an early 7-0 run, but junior guard Ashlynn Shade snapped it with a 3-pointer to set the Huskies on a 7-0 run of their own. It seemed like the Buckeyes couldn’t miss through the first six minutes of play, but UConn manage to slow them down as it leaned into its disruptive defense with three forced turnovers in a 90-second stretch after Ohio State opened its first lead of the game.
Quinonez, who had five points in her collegiate debut Wednesday, ended the first quarter with seven capped by a buzzer-beater layup to give UConn a 3-point lead.
The Huskies turned up the pressure immediately the second quarter, beginning on an 8-0 run with five points from Strong. The sophomore phenom hit a fast break layup, then grabbed a steal that Fudd capitalized on sinking her first 3-pointer after starting 0-for-6 from the field. Fudd came up with a block at the other end, and this time it was Strong who converted with a three of her own from the top of the arc.
UConn thrived running bigger lineups for much of the second quarter with Williams, Strong and Quinonez on the floor, and all three had double-digit points by halftime. Quinonez played with a maturity far beyond her years, often bringing the ball up the floor for the Huskies and playmaking as much as she scored herself. After Ohio State cut UConn’s lead back to single digits, Quinonez escaped a trap that would have caused a turnover for most freshmen then got the ball back on an assist from Strong and nailed her first 3-pointer of the game.
Strong and Fudd each outscored the Buckeyes by themselves in the second, finishing with eight and nine points respectively. Fudd nailed three 3-pointers in the quarter, draining her third off a steal by Strong in the final seconds to send the Huskies into halftime leading 50-30.
Fudd sank her fourth 3-pointer to open the third quarter, setting UConn on another 15-3 run, but Ohio State regained some momentum once the Huskies began to go outside their core rotation. Strong came off the floor for the first time midway through the third, and the Buckeyes put together a 13-2 run that came mostly with the superstar on the sideline.
But once Strong checked back in, the Huskies went on another 10-0 run to push their lead back to 30 points. The sophomore ended Ohio State’s run with an and-1 layup off an assist from Fudd, and Quinonez followed it up with an and-1 of her own off a steal.
UConn forced another seven turnovers agains the Buckeyes in the third quarter, and they ended the game with 37 points off 24 turnovers including 14 team steals. But the Huskies also had their most efficient offensive performance to date, shooting 52% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range with a season-high 12 makes from beyond the arc. After its hot start, Ohio State finished shooting just 32% on 3-pointers and 45.8% from the field.