UConn women’s basketball drops Dayton in season opener, 102-58

UConn women’s basketball took a 2-0 lead before its 2023-24 season even officially began and led for all 40 minutes in a 102-58 victory over the Dayton Flyers on Wednesday night at the XL Center.

The Flyers were assessed a technical foul due to an administrative error and Azzi Fudd drained a pair of free throws to give the Huskies an edge before the opening tip-off.

Playing in her first official game in 584 days, Paige Bueckers got the start and scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists. She saw 21 minutes of action — nine more than the exhibition — including eight in the second half.

Aaliyah Edwards led the way for UConn with 23 points on 10-12 shooting, while five others — Fudd (13), Aubrey Griffin (12), Qadence Samuels (11), Nika Mühl (10) and Caroline Ducharme (10) — reached double-figures and 12 players scored in total.

As a team, the Huskies committed just eight turnovers — fewer than all but one game last season — and got 38 points from their bench.

Edwards got UConn its first basket of the season after four consecutive misses. Five minutes in, the lead had already ballooned to double-digits. While the Huskies didn’t have a run longer than 8-0 in the first half, Dayton failed to score back-to-back baskets. UConn went into the half with a 28-point lead.

The Huskies scored nine straight at one point in the third quarter and held the Flyers to just four baskets during the period to extend the gap to 40 points. They crossed the 100-point mark with 3:55 remaining and came away with a 44-point victory in the opener.

Next, UConn will head to Raleigh for a meeting with the NC State Wolfpack on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. ET on ABC.