“Angry. Frustrated. Embarrassed,” Azzi Fudd said while looking back on last season’s loss at Tennessee. “As individuals and as a team, we all felt like no one really did their part.” Tennessee stood as the last team to beat the UConn Huskies, and this matchup offered a chance at revenge as UConn looked to extend their streak.

That is exactly what happened! Fudd was not ready to lose to the Lady Vols again. She showed up, set the tone early, and led UConn to a dominant 96 –66 win over Tennessee. But once the game ended, Geno Auriemma had a few things to say that caught everyone off guard.

“When I tell you it’s the worst month of shooting I’ve ever seen a great shooter have, I’m not exaggerating,” Auriemma said about Fudd’s shooting. “The last game we played, she was sick. So between being under the weather for quite some time and being so frustrated with the way she was playing in practice…”

He continued: “I was worried going into this game because she had been coming off not such great practices. But the way she started changed everything. The thing about her is she makes way more shots when she’s doing the other things, when she’s rebounding the ball, getting assists, and trying to strip players bringing the ball up the floor. When she’s doing all those things, the shots go in. When she’s overly focused on ‘I’ve got to make shots,’ it doesn’t go as well for her. These are the kinds of games she has in big moments.”

Over the course of January, Azzi Fudd had a few nights where her shot didn’t fall the way it usually does, including one particularly tough game against Xavier. However, when you step back and look at the bigger picture, there’s little reason for concern. She’s been a steady 46.5 percent shooter throughout her career, and this stretch looks more like a brief cold spell than any real decline. For a player of her stature, it’s simply part of the ups and downs of a long season.

Azzi Fudd had been dealing with illness and was unable to get in the kind of training sessions she would have liked, as Geno Auriemma pointed out. But none of that mattered on the night. Fudd delivered in a big way, finishing with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and seven assists.

And after the game, Fudd made a bit of history as well. She knocked down five threes on the night, moving into the top 10 on the UConn Huskies’ all-time list for made three-pointers.

She was once again well supported by Sarah Strong, who chipped in 26 points along with nine rebounds and four assists. When these two get going, UConn is almost impossible to stop. The Huskies shot close to 59 percent from the floor and limited Tennessee to 38 percent shooting.

This win extended the Huskies’ streak to 39 consecutive victories and gave them 18 straight wins by 25 points or more, a mark no Division I team has matched in the last 25 seasons.

Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell also shared her thoughts after the game.

Kim Caldwell Reacts to the Azzi Fudd Show

It goes without saying that the UConn Huskies did not need extra motivation heading into the game. Still, it was not as comfortable as the final score suggests. Late in the first half, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers held a 42–38 lead, and by halftime, the game was locked at 42 apiece.

But the second half told a very different story. Powered by Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong, the Huskies outscored the Lady Vols 54–24 after the break and put the game away.

“That’s a really good team, and when you take plays off, they make you pay for every play off,” Caldwell said in the post game press conference. “A lot of what we did was self-inflicted, but then again, if you lose sight of your man for half of a second, they’re going to capitalize on it, and that’s why they are are doing what they’re doing right now.”

This marked the largest margin of victory in the series’ history and came just one point shy of Tennessee’s biggest loss ever. That is what you call revenge. And for anyone still talking about UConn getting an easy ride in the Big East, they just took down the team sitting second in the SEC.

There may be valid reasons behind the belief that UConn benefits from Big East play, but this win against Tennessee sent a clear message. Geno Auriemma’s side looks like a near-lock for the Final Four, barring any injury setbacks. Where do you see UConn finishing this season? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.