UConn women’s basketball wallops Syracuse to advance to Sweet Sixteen, 98-45
The Huskies put together one of their best first halves in recent memory.
The Syracuse Orange take on the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament Second Round at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT on Monday, March 23, 2026. | Ian Bethune - The UConn Blog UConn women’s basketball advanced to its 32nd consecutive Sweet Sixteen by walloping the 9-seed Syracuse Orange, 98-45. The Huskies led by 53 at halftime.
In her final game at Gampel Pavilion, Azzi Fudd went off with 34 points on eight 3-pointers — both of which tied career-highs — to go along with five assists, four steals and three rebounds. Sarah Strong added 18 points and nine rebounds while Blanca Quiñonez also put up 18 points. Kayleigh Heckel chipped in with nine points and Ashlynn Shade did a little bit of everything with six points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Defensively, UConn held Syracuse to 1-18 shooting from deep and forced 20 turnovers. Strong got the Huskies off to a quick start by scoring seven of their first nine points. UConn piled up 7-0 and 8-0 runs to take what seemed to be a commanding 14-point lead.
Then the Huskies flipped a switch. They scored 31 unanswered points, keeping Syracuse off the board for 10:26 seconds while forcing 10 straight misses. Six different players scored for UConn, led by 11 points from Fudd and nine points from Quiñonez during that stretch.