Women's Fastbreak On SI

Geno Auriemma Thinks Azzi Fudd Avoided 'Worst Case Scenario' With UConn Injury Scare

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma spoke about Azzi Fudd seeming to suffer an injury during his team's dominant win on Saturday.

Grant Young

Dec 3, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the Holy Cross Crusaders at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Dec 3, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the Holy Cross Crusaders at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The No. 2 ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team finished off a dominant 85-52 win over the No. 22 ranked Louisville Cardinals on Saturday as part of the Women's Champions Classic in Brooklyn, New York.

Despite another sub-par offensive evening for Huskies superstar Paige Bueckers, UConn relied on their depth and frontcourt dominance (specifically from freshman Sarah Strong) to secure what ended up being an easy win.

Beloved Huskies guard Azzi Fudd also produced a solid performance, finishing the game with 18 points on 4-7 shooting from three-point range.

However, it wasn't all smiles from Fudd on Saturday, as UConn fans had to hold their collective breath for a while during the game once she went to the locker room after suffering an apparent injury.

Fudd was defending in the third quarter when she was on the receiving end of a hard screen by a Louisville player. She went to the floor awkwardly and appeared to be in some pain.

The significance of this is that Fudd only recently returned after a year-long absence due to a torn ACL she suffered in her knee last November. This is why seeing her go down was terrifying for UConn fans.

Fudd returned to the court shortly after and seemed to be in good spirits on the sideline, although she didn't return to the game.

Legendary Huskies coach Geno Auriemma shared an embrace with Fudd once she returned from the locker room to the bench, which saw both of them smiling.

However, it's still unclear what exactly Fudd is dealing with, and whether this injury should be of concern.

Auriemma discussed Fudd's situation after the game by saying, "Kind of like she got herself in an awkward situation. Somebody fell on her, something. So she was walking around, she was fine. It didn't look like worst case scenario, let's put it that way. That we were all crossing our fingers and hoping.

"We'll know more when we get back. I hope I'm right — but it's not that worst case scenario that we've seen so many times before," he added.

While Auriemma's sentiment sounds positive enough, it also appears that Fudd and the Huskies nation will need to wait a few days before knowing the extent of what happened.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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