Azzi Fudd’s breakout game against gritty USF puts No. 2 UConn women in Battle 4 Atlantis final against No. 1 South Carolina

UConn women’s basketball freshman Azzi Fudd may have had a quiet start to her college career, but when her team needed it most, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021 came through Sunday in the Huskies’ second Battle 4 Atlantis game.

On a day when offense was tough to come by and UConn fell behind for the first time this season, Fudd shot 6-for-9 from 3 and finished with 18 points to push No. 2 UConn (3-0) to a 60-53 victory over gritty No. 23 USF in the Bahamas. The Huskies will face No. 1 South Carolina, which beat No. 9 Oregon 80-63 later in the day, Monday at noon in the tournament’s championship game.

“Coach has been telling me to shoot, and every game so far I’ve been overthinking,” said Fudd, who’s known for her textbook shooting form but had gone 2-for-9 from beyond the arc entering the game. “So today my goal was to not overthink, when I get the ball, my defenders hands aren’t right in my face, and to shoot.”

“If God ever gave anybody a better shooting stroke in the world, I don’t know who it is,” coach Geno Auriemma said.

Fudd and sophomore Paige Bueckers combined for all but 21 of UConn’s points, the latter finishing with 21 on 8-for-16 shooting (3-for-10 on 3s) — in other words, a glimpse of the future so many Huskies fans were excited for with the pair joining forces in Storrs.

Now if only Auriemma can get his unselfish stars to shoot more. He shouted as much to Bueckers early in the game, after which she scored seven straight points in the first quarter. Later on, it was Fudd being yelled at to launch it and to quit unnecessarily dribbling around.

“They think being a great teammate is not taking too many shots,” Auriemma said of Bueckers and Fudd. “And I think being a great teammate is shooting every time you’re open when you’re a great shooter. For young kids, I think it’s somewhat natural at times, to not want to put yourself in that situation. Not everybody’s Maya [Moore]. Some kids just take a little bit longer to see it.

“I wish [Fudd] had some of Paige’s just kind of play brainless, just kind of play and not worry about the outcome so much [mentality], and I wish Paige had a little bit of Azzi’s discipline. But that’s why they’re so good together. They really complement each other really well.”

But more than any previous game, Fudd did just go out and play, finding a groove early and hitting shots when the Huskies were desperate for them. Bueckers found Fudd with a skip pass before the buzzer to put UConn up 18-14 at the end of the first, and her next two 3s early in the second gave UConn its game-high 13-point lead.

Then, when UConn’s offense struggled to get going in the second half, Fudd put UConn ahead by five as USF initiated its comeback attempt. She then sank a pair of 3s in the fourth, including one at the beginning of the period that broke the tie and gave the Huskies the lead for good.

Moreover, Fudd started off 4-for-4 from the perimeter.

“[Her teammates] all know it’s going in the minute it leaves her hands,” Auriemma said. “The only person that really has any idea how to keep Azzi from getting as many shots off as she wants is her. If she decides, like today, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’ it happens.”

Outside of Fudd, the Huskies’ offense stalled at times in their biggest test so far. USF’s stout defense forced the Huskies to commit nine turnovers by halftime, but Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s late free throw sent them into the break with a 34-25 edge.

The Bulls (3-2) stormed out with a 9-2 run to start the third, pulling within two, but Fudd fired off a 3 immediately upon re-entering the game. Bueckers followed up with one of her own off a Dorka Juhász offensive board for the Huskies to get a bit of breathing room at 42-34, but USF answered with an 11-0 run to go ahead by three.

It was the first time UConn trailed all season.

“If we wanted to play teams where we never got challenged, we never got smacked, we never had to come back, find out a little bit of ourselves doing a timeout, then there’s no point in being here. So we got exactly what we wanted that game, exactly what we needed,” Auriemma said. “This is [USF coach] Jose [Fernandez]’s best team since he’s been at South Florida. They’re going to win a lot of games. ... That’s a better win than people are going to give it credit for. I was really proud of our guys, especially the way we came out of the timeout after they took the lead.”

Bueckers’ impressive stepback 3 at the end-of-quarter buzzer tied things at 45 apiece before Fudd sank another 3 to regain a UConn advantage early in the fourth. USF would pull back within three, but Williams’ trey made it a six-point game once again, and Fudd’s sixth and final 3 extended the lead to nine at the 4:28 mark.

The Bulls didn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.

“For us to battle back and not lay down and sort of take a hit and then throw one back was huge for us,” Bueckers said.

While Williams, Bueckers and Evina Westbrook did most of the damage offensively UConn’s first two games, Fudd’s emergence Sunday may be a sign she’s ready to take on a more prominent scoring role moving forward. At the very least, Bueckers won’t let her think any differently.

“When anybody has a game where they go 6-for-9 from 3, they’re going to gain a lot of confidence,” Bueckers said. “I told her before the game, ‘I want you to shoot 20 3s this game.’ It’s just me being in her ear, our teammates being in her ear, giving her confidence and just reassuring her that we need her to shoot, we want her to shoot and tell her to stop overthinking, just shoot.”

“She’s a freshman. This is only our third game and then I keep reminding myself, this is probably the worst you’re ever going to see Azzi,” Auriemma added. “So what’s that say? She’s got chance to be a pretty special player.”

Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com.