Ready for another battle? UConn women face familiar foe Syracuse in NCAA Tournament second round
STORRS — Two years after the UConn women’s basketball team last faced Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, junior guard Ashlynn Shade remembers the series that set up a dagger 3-pointer from classmate KK Arnold like it was yesterday. Arnold and Shade are the only members of UConn’s current roster who played in that 2024 matchup, which the Huskies won 72-64 as a 3-seed over the 6-seed Orange. Syracuse gave them a battle, outscoring UConn in the second half and cutting their lead to as little as two points in the final two minutes of the game.
With 50 seconds on the clock and Syracuse trailing by just three, both freshmen delivered in the highest-pressure scenario they’d ever faced. Shade made a crucial pass deflection against Orange star Dyashia Fair to play to prevent Syracuse from closing the deficit even further and gave UConn the chance to take a timeout and set up a play. “I remember she was coming in transition, and I was like the only one back,” Shade said.
“It was just me and her, and I tipped the ball from her. It led to like, I don’t know if it was Paige (Bueckers) maybe recovered it … I remember that because it was like, freshman Ashlynn playing defense? Okay, let’s see how this goes.
” Sign up here to get UConn sports news straight to your inbox: UConn Alerts The Huskies tried to get a look for the All-American Bueckers when they got back on the court, but as three Syracuse defenders collapsed on the superstar, Bueckers saw Arnold standing wide open behind the 3-point arc on left wing and hurled a pass to the freshman for the game-clinching shot. Arnold pulled up without a moment of hesitation. As if in slow motion, the ball ricocheted off the rim and into the backboard before dropping cleanly through the net.
Gampel Pavilion exploded, and after Syracuse called a timeout, the entire UConn bench flooded onto the court, screaming and chest-bumping the freshman. “It was probably just like, a sigh of relief, like okay I made it,” Arnold said. “It was super exciting, and it was a great atmosphere … I literally said (when the bracket came out), this is literally my freshman year all over again.
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