Fudd leads No. 5 UConn to blowout win over No. 10 NC State

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Azzi Fudd scored 32 points and No. 5 UConn beat 10th-ranked North Carolina State 91-69 on Sunday, in a game that started with a scary moment when longtime Huskies associate head coach Chris Dailey fainted after the national anthem.

Dailey was attended to on the court by medical personnel for a few minutes before being taking off on a stretcher. Dailey, who is 63, waved to the crowd and smiled as she left the court.

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.

The team gathered itself and scored the first nine points of the game 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.

Fudd, who also had a career-high 32 in the win over No. 3 Texas on Monday night, stayed hot for the Huskies.

Lou Lopez Senechal got going in the second half, scoring 12 points in the third quarter to turn the game into a rout. Lopez Senechal was scoreless in the first half for UConn (3-0), but finished with 20.

Nika Muhl had a career-high 15 assists for the Huskies, breaking the team record held by Paige Bueckers of 14. 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 the NCAA Tournament last season that was played down I-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