Azzi Fudd wanted to emulate Paige Bueckers entering her final March Madness. More specifically, it was Bueckers’ leadership from their National Championship run that she wanted to borrow. “I definitely got to learn a lot from her, and I’ll be trying to be like her this month,” she said. At her final game at the Gampel Pavilion, Fudd has done exactly that.

Azzi Fudd was like King Midas in the second-round matchup against Syracuse. Everything she touched turned to gold. Azzi Fudd led UConn to a  dominating 98-45 victory by tying a career-high 34 points, as well as a career-best eight 3-pointers. She was active in creating chances as well and finished with five assists and four steals. Coincidentally, or not, Paige Bueckers also tied her career high with 34 points against South Dakota State at her final game in front of Huskies fans. However, Fudd has a unique story behind her hot hand, as Geno Auriemma’s pregame advice played a vital role. 

Fudd did not have the best game against UTSA in the first round. She finished with 7 points while going 3-9 from the field and 1-5 from the three-point line. She even had 3 fouls in the first quarter, leading to some frustration. After the game, she went for some advice from Auriemma regarding her form. 

Geno Auriemma immediately asked her to show her nails and asked her to cut them before the Syracuse game. “It’ll make the ball happy, and the ball will like you, and you’ll make more shots,” he said. “She and Ice [Brady] looked at me like I was an idiot, and I walked away, I said, ‘Look, I don’t believe it either, but it’s worth trying.'” It’s like a switch turned on for Fudd and she had 26 points in the first half. 

“I did, I trimmed them. I had a nail file yesterday before practice,” Fudd told ESPN’s Holly Rowe at the half before heading into the locker room. “I guess [Auriemma] was right, I had to cut my nails.”

Fudd also had a 2:20 stretch before halftime where she rained down 11 points on perfect 4-4 shooting splits. It was an unprecedentedly efficient first half for UConn, scoring 1.91 points per possession over the first 20 minutes to build one of the largest halftime leads in program history. “I don’t know that we’ve had a better 20-minute stretch than we had that first half today,” admitted Geno Auriemma. It was the perfect goodbye to the Gampel Pavilion for Fudd. Despite her alien-like performance in this game, she gave credit to one player on the defensive side of the team.

Azzi Fudd Credits Serah Williams For Leading The Team On Defense

Before the game, Geno Auriemma claimed Uche Izoje is the best player they will be facing this season. The Syracuse freshman has come out of nowhere and won eight ACC Rookie of the Week awards and the ACC Rookie of the Year award, as well as a first-team all-conference pick. However, it was Serah Williams that decided to put the clamps to the star center. 

“I think our defense really started with Serah Williams tonight,” Azzi Fudd said. “She really took pride in her matchup. I think she held their best scorer to four or six when she was in the game. For her to start the game out like that, really taking pride in that, and all of us on the help side trying to have her back whenever we could. But I think tonight it started with Serah Williams’ intensity and we just fed off her.”

Williams had six rebounds, four assists, two points and one steal in 20 minutes. But her impact was off the scoreboard as she played her best defense of the year against Izoje. The center averaged 15.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game coming into the game. Yet, Williams frustrated her early by playing close and smooth. 

She blocked the lane and intercepted passes inside the lane. Even when Izoje got the ball, she forced her to get rid of the ball quickly and did not let her gain momentum. She finished with just 12 points and 6 rebounds while going 6-13 from the field and getting 5 turnovers. With Izoje quiet, Syracuse struggled to get going on the offense. 

“The way she played defensively, the rebounding, just the presence that she had, I thought it was as engaged and as energetic and as assertive as I’ve seen her,” Auriemma said regarding Williams. Next, they will face No. 4 seed North Carolina. The Tar Heels advanced to the Sweet 16 with an 82-51 win over Western Illinois in the first round and a 74-66 win over 5-seed Maryland in the second. On the back of this stellar performance, it is clear North Carolina should be scared.