UConn women’s basketball upset by NC State, 92-81

UConn women’s basketball suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, falling victim to an upset at the hands of unranked NC State, 92-81.

The Huskies were torched defensively — the Wolfpack’s 92 points are the most the Huskies have allowed since a 2001 defeat to Tennessee. Saniya Rivers also became the first opponent to total 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against UConn in the last 25 years, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. The Wolfpack had more points on Sunday than they had in the 2022 Elite Eight meeting with the Huskies — which went to double overtime.

With the defense in tatters, UConn didn’t get enough from stars Azzi Fudd (nine points on 4-13 shooting) or Aaliyah Edwards (21 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter, on 8-17 shooting with four fouls and three assists) to overcome.

On top of that, the Huskies got out-rebounded 41-29, committed 22 fouls and went 17-29 (58.6%) on layups.

Paige Bueckers (27 points) and Qadence Samuels (14 points) were lone bright spots for the Huskies in the loss. They’ve now dropped six games to unranked opponents in 54 games over the last three seasons after losing just four games to unranked teams in 497 games in the 20 seasons prior, per ESPN.

UConn jumped out to a 9-2 lead and closed the first period on a 7-0 run to go up nine — its largest advantage of the day. NC State quickly flipped the script in the second quarter, using an 8-0 stretch to tie the game and then scoring seven straight to take their first lead of the day.

Despite that, the Huskies took a 43-42 lead into the locker room thanks to a last-second layup by KK Arnold.

The gap wouldn’t last long, though. Out of the break, NC State scored seven of the first nine points in the half and went back ahead. UConn struggled to stop the Wolfpack offense and couldn’t generate consistent scoring down the other end — highlighted by the fact that the Huskies failed to score back-to-back baskets in the third quarter.

As UConn tried to mount a comeback, it allowed an 11-0 run that pushed NC State’s lead to 14 points. The Huskies fought back to get the deficit down to eight, but couldn’t get any closer than that. In the end, NC State came away with the 11-point win.

Next, UConn will try to get back in the win column on Thursday when it welcomes Maryland to Gampel Pavilion.