UConn cruised into the Sweet 16 on Monday in overwhelming fashion, dominating 9 seed Syracuse, 98-45 in the second round.
UConn’s defense stifled Syracuse early and throughout. The Huskies held the Orange to 8 first-quarter points while building a 33-8 advantage. Syracuse then came dangerously close to not scoring at all in the second.
The Orange scored their eighth point of the game with 3:18 remaining first quarter. They didn’t score again for more than 10 minutes as they cut UConn’s lead to 53-10 with 2:52 remaining in the half. They managed just 4 points in the second quarter.
UConn scored 31 straight points during the run and entered the break with a 65-12 lead. The run was the first of 30 points or more in the NCAA tournament since ESPN started tracking such stats seven years ago.
All-American Azzi Fudd more than doubled Syracuse’s first-half output with 26 points before the break while shooting 6 of 9 from 3. It marked a career-high for any half for Fudd in her final college game at UConn’s Gampel Pavilion.
She finished her home finale by tying her career highs in both points and 3-pointers made. She didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
Fudd led the onslaught with 34 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She shot 13 of 18 from the field and 8 of 11 from 3.
Azzi Fudd 30-piece 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oRtVz4hazC
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 23, 2026
UConn’s 53-point halftime lead put it in range of the all-time NCAA tournament scoring margin record of 89 points set by Baylor in 2017 in a 119-30 win over Texas Southern. But Syracuse found signs of life after halftime, and Geno Auriemma called off the dogs by pulling his starters for most of the fourth quarter.
The final margin of 53 points, doesn’t crack the top 10 on that list. But against a fellow power conference program in the second round, it’s remarkable nonetheless.
The dominance UConn displayed is a testament to its status as the tournament favorite in a field where fellow 1 seed powers UCLA, South Carolina and Texas are the only teams expected to mount a reasonable challenge to the now 36-0 Huskies. And even that’s up for debate until potential matchups in the Final Four.
