UConn women’s basketball dismantles St. John’s in Paige Bueckers’ return, 93-38

UConn women’s basketball dismantled St. John’s 93-38 in the penultimate game of the regular season. With the return of Paige Bueckers, the Huskies put together their most complete game to date. Not only did they only allow 38 points and hold St John’s leading scorer Leilani Correa to just seven, but UConn’s offense looked the best it has all season.

UConn scored 93 points in the ball game and shot over 63 percent from the field. Azzi Fudd led the way with 19 points including five triples, and five Huskies reached double-figures. The team also recorded a season high 27 assists. Westbrook had 10 of those dimes, assisting on 42 percent of UConn’s made baskets while on the floor.

The Huskies came out hot on offense from the start, making their first six shots of the game and going on a 17-0 run before St John’s could make contact with the basket. Azzi Fudd led the way from the get-go with eight of UConn’s 17 points in the opening run. She finished the quarter with 13 points, including three triples, and missed just one triple in the first 10 minutes.

Bueckers made her return late in the first and didn’t take long to make an impact. She knocked down a jumper at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter for the first bucket of her return, putting the Huskies up 30-8 after one. Bueckers stayed on the floor to start the second, and then returned for the final two minutes of the second quarter, where she also knocked down UConn’s last bucket of the half. UConn took a 51-16 lead into the break.

Aaliyah Edwards had a strong first half, finishing with 12 points on 6-8 shooting from the floor. She also added six rebounds and two assists. Evina Westbrook was one of only two Huskies to not get in on the first half scoring effort, but dished out five assists.

Edwards kept UConn rolling in the second half with the steal and the score to open up the action. Everything seemed to go right for the Huskies on the offensive end, where they were 12-15 from the floor and had 8 assists on 12 made field goals. UConn was up by 50 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Bueckers time on the court ended in the third. She played 12 minutes in her first game back from injury and added 8 points on 4-5 shooting.

UConn kept it rolling in the final quarter, ultimately winning the game by 55 points, with Piath Gabriel and Amari DeBerry seeing some late game action.

The Huskies return to action on Sunday afternoon for their final outing of the regular season. UConn will face Providence at 2:00 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.