Strong leads No. 2 UConn in rout of Holy Cross

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Freshman Sarah Strong scored 22 points and No. 2 UConn outscored Holy Cross by 30 points in the second half of an 88-52 victory on Tuesday night.

Kaitlyn Chen scored 14 points and Paige Bueckers added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for UConn (7-0), which led 33-27 at the break and shot 7 for 12 from 3-point distance in the second half.

Lindsay Berger scored 12 points and Kaitlyn Flanagan added 10 points for Holy Cross (4-4).

Azzi Fudd made her first start of the season for UConn after missing the first three games of the season as she recovered from a knee injury that limited her to just two games during the 2023-24 season. Fudd scored seven points in 18 minutes.

Takeaways

Holy Cross: The Crusaders held UConn to a season-low 33 points in the first half and are the only opponent to be within single digits of UConn at halftime this season.

UConn: After shooting 3 for 14 from distiance against Ole Miss, the Huskies had a season-high 14 3-pointers.

Key moment

Holy Cross pulled within four points on Kaitlyn Flanagan's 3-pointer 49 seconds into the second half. After a layup by Bueckers, Sarah Strong had a basket and a steal that led to Kaitlyn Chen making 1 of 2 shots from the line. Chen added a fast-break layup and Fudd capped 10-0 run with a 3-pointer, putting the Huskies up 46-32.

Key stat

UConn finished with 27 assists on 35 baskets. That included 18 assists on 22 baskets in the second half as the Huskies shot 64.7% from the field after halftime.

Up next

The Crusaders host Stony Brook on Sunday. UConn faces Louisville in the Women's Champions Classic on Saturday at Barclays Center.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball