Huskies Report

UConn’s Azzi Fudd Takes On Paige Bueckers’ Defensive Duties

UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd is emerging as the team’s new defensive anchor in the post-Paige Bueckers era.
Shivani Menon|
Dec 21, 2022; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) and guard Paige Bueckers (5) on the court as their teammates warm up before the start of the game against the Seton Hall Pirates at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Dec 21, 2022; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) and guard Paige Bueckers (5) on the court as their teammates warm up before the start of the game against the Seton Hall Pirates at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

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UConn Huskies

The UConn Huskies are into their second game without Paige Bueckers, and yet, her fingerprints remain all over how this team plays. While a lot has been said about Bueckers and her offense, she was a defensive anchor for the Huskies.

At UConn, she regularly guarded the opponent’s top perimeter player using her timing and ability to disrupt pick-and-rolls to tilt possessions before they began. Bueckers' defensive instincts were evident even on WNBA courts. She now ranks among the top-five rookies in both defensive win shares and steal percentage.

Now, without her, the most challenging perimeter assignment every night belongs to Azzi Fudd. And for the first time in her injury-free UConn season, she’s embracing it as her own. Geno Auriemma had hinted early in the preseason that someone would have to step into Bueckers’ defensive role. Two games in, he’s made it clear who that is

“We used to put Paige on the other team’s best player,” Auriemma said after UConn’s 99–67 win over Florida State. “This year, we said, look, Azzi’s going to have to guard the other team’s best guard. And she loves it.”

This season, something has changed with Fudd. After a 20-point night in the Armed Forces Classic opener against Louisville and the exhibition games, it is becoming exceedingly clear that Fudd’s offensive command has been joined by grit. She has evolved from chasing jumpers. Auriemma sees it too.

“We were talking about it on the bench,” Auriemma said. “Azzi’s known as a great shooter, you know, a scorer. But little by little, she’s starting to get comfortable with the other stuff. She’s really leaning into this defensive mentality.”

That “defensive mentality” showed in the game against FSU. Fudd scored 23 points in the game, of which 20 were scored in the first half. However, she added three rebounds, two steals, and relentless ball pressure that set the tone.

As Auriemma puts it, “We used to put Paige on the other team’s best player… This year, we said, look, Azzi’s going to have to guard the other team’s best guard. And she loves it.”

The shooter who once defined herself by her release is now defining herself by her reach. And Geno, in classic Geno fashion, couldn’t resist adding with a grin: “She might’ve got a rebound, did she? Three. Older than Jesus. All right, so now I can’t b**** about that.”

If there was ever a game that showed what Auriemma’s talking about, this was it. The old Paige Bueckers template has found a new interpreter. And her name is Azzi Fudd.

What Does Sarah Strong Think of Azzi Fudd's Defensive Edge?

If Fudd is becoming the defensive heartbeat, Sarah Strong might be the lungs that keep UConn breathing. The freshman forward has been just as vital in replacing what the Huskies lost with Bueckers’ departure. Together, Fudd and Strong are crafting a new identity that’s less about one superstar leading and more about shared leadership.

After Fudd’s 23 points against Florida State, Strong was quick to deflect the spotlight toward her teammate’s evolution.

“I feel like it started on defense,” Strong said. “We started picking up the pressure and kind of messing them up, obviously. But I feel like Azzi kind of took advantage of what they were giving her and was just making the right play.”

That balance, where offense is built from defense, is exactly what Auriemma has been preaching. And together their chemistry is undeniable. In the season opener against Louisville, the duo combined for 41 points, with Fudd scoring 20 and Strong adding 21 in a balanced inside-out attack that carried UConn through stretches when the offense slowed.

They followed it up, by combining for 44 points against FSU, while anchoring both ends of the floor. Through two games, their 85 combined points have accounted for nearly half of UConn’s total scoring output.

As Strong puts it, “I know what Azzi likes to do on the court. She knows what I like to do. So I feel like every game we’re just going to continue to build the chemistry we need to be great.

When Paige Bueckers left, the question was who would take her place. Two games in, the answer seems more apparent by the day: no one person has to. But if anyone’s coming close, Azzi Fudd’s making a convincing case.

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Shivani Menon
SHIVANI MENON

Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.

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