UConn women’s basketball rallies to beat DePaul 80-78 off Caroline Ducharme’s game-winner as Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd make their returns

The No. 10 UConn women’s basketball team has had its share of inconsistency this season, including multiple fourth-quarter collapses that cost them games. But with two standout guards back in tow — senior Christyn Williams from COVID-19 and freshman Azzi Fudd from a foot injury — and their healthiest roster since mid-November, the Huskies grew up big Wednesday night.

In a game that was rescheduled some 72 hours ago in place of a rematch against top-ranked South Carolina, UConn rallied from down nine at halftime and down four with three minutes to play to beat a ferocious DePaul team 80-78 in Chicago thanks to Caroline Ducharme’s game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds to play. The win preserved the program’s streak of 168 consecutive conference victories dating back to Dec. 29, 2013.

The Huskies rebounded from an abysmal second quarter in which they allowed a 21-2 DePaul run to go up seven early in the fourth, but DePaul clawed back to lead by two possessions late. After pushing back ahead by three, UConn turned the ball over twice in the final 44 seconds of the game, allowing the Blue Demons to tie things up before Geno Auriemma ran a play out of a timeout for Ducharme to get the ball with 8.6 seconds on the clock. Ducharme, the Huskies’ more surprising freshman star, barreled to the basket for the win-sealing layup, and finished with a team-high 19 points.

“She’s the best on our team at getting to the basket and she’s the best at finishing,” Auriemma said. “You could draw up any play you want. But at that point in the game, nobody’s going to let you run whatever you draw up. Somebody just has to make a play, and I’m not surprised Caroline made it.”

Ducharme wasn’t the only one who took part in the Huskies’ heroics, as Fudd, who hadn’t played since Nov. 22, finished with 15 points (6-10, 3-6 on 3s) in 22 minutes and had a knack for making big shots when the team needed them. That included the game-tying and go-ahead baskets in the third, which allowed UConn to retake the lead after being down nine at the half, as well as UConn’s first seven points in the fourth to give them as much as a seven-point edge. Fudd and Ducharme scored 17 of UConn’s 26 fourth-quarter points.

Auriemma wasn’t all too surprised that Fudd came through. He said the sharpshooter and mega-recruit hit some 25 straight shots during her first individual workout back from her injury. While he warned Tuesday that Fudd needed more time to get into game shape before making her return, Fudd said post-game she decided after shootaround she was good to play.

“And I’m really glad I did,” Fudd said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Williams added 17, including back-to-back layups with under two minutes left to erase DePaul’s lead for good. She started and played 32 minutes after missing the last three games with COVID-19.

“I tried to hide it well, but I was a little winded today,” Williams said. “But it felt really good to be back.”

DePaul had a freshman sensation of its own, Aneesah Morrow, who put up 30 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-1 post went 3-4 from the free throw line following UConn’s pair of turnovers with under a minute remaining, tying the game with 8.6 to play.

“She’s incredibly good at everything,” Auriemma said of Morrow, who recorded her fourth 30-point game of the year and 13th-straight double-double. “And I don’t know that there’s another player in our league like that.”

Dealing with adversity — across the season or in a given game — has been a point of emphasis for Auriemma’s Huskies this year, and Wednesday was no different. UConn came out of the gates strong on both ends, going up 20-11 at the end of the first and 29-19 midway through the second off Fudd’s 3, her first points since the USF game on Nov. 21.

But the Huskies fell apart from there, looking entirely out of sorts on both ends and allowing DePaul to go on a 21-2 run to retake the lead. The burst featured 17 unanswered Blue Demon points and a nearly five-minute scoreless streak for UConn that was snapped by Ducharme’s layup. The Blue Demons made 13 of their 18 shots in the frame, and UConn committed more turnovers (five) than field goals it made (four). The Huskies trailed at the half, 31-40.

“Coach was really upset with us at halftime,” Williams said. “He said that they punched us and we kind of fell back. So just going into the second half, we tried to punch back.”

Put more succinctly: “All the things that we’re good at, we were terrible at,” Auriemma added. “And the second half, it was a completely different team that came out for the third quarter.”

UConn showed some life to start the second half, scoring 11 of the first 15 points to cut the deficit to two and later closing the period on a 10-5 run to take a 54-53 edge heading into the fourth. Fudd’s transition 3 put UConn up seven early in the final frame, but the Huskies struggled to get defensive stops, allowing DePaul to storm ahead by four with three minutes to play.

Ducharme, who fought through foul trouble, scored five consecutive points to briefly give the Huskies the lead at the 2:11 mark before Sonya Morris answered with a basket, and then Williams’ back to back layups gave UConn a three-point advantage with 1:14 to play. Fudd’s bad pass on an inbounds play and Nika Mühl’s travel in the final minute made things a bit too close for comfort, but to Auriemma, the team’s ability to recover from those mistakes and pull out the win is a lesson that’ll serve them well long-term.

“You really don’t grow up until you [turn over] the ball to the other team twice in a row, and you do it in a game and it didn’t cost you the game because if it costs you the game, you’d be devastated,” Auriemma said. “We did a lot of dumb things, but we did just enough good things to win the game. So now when we get back, they know that in a game situation, they can do it.

“We know we’re not perfect, and we know we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot, but we also have the ability that as long as there’s time left on the clock, we can win a game.”

Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com