Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma may know better than anyone that winning a championship isn't always based on skill alone.
It involves luck and perfect timing.
The team needs to stay healthy and play its best basketball when it matters most.
Connecticut (8-0) hasn't been very healthy the last few seasons.
Paige Backers, the top player in the 2020 recruiting class, missed all of the 2022-23 season as she rehabbed a knee injury.
Azi Fad, the top player in the 2021 class, was sidelined for most of last season and into the beginning of this season after suffering a torn ACL and medial meniscus.
This season, in some ways, has been years in the making.
Finally, Mr. Bakkers and Mr. Fudd are also in good health. If the two Connecticut stars join forces, they will likely lead the Huskies to a record 12th championship and end Auriemma's nine-year title drought, the longest since winning his first championship in 1995. will be possible.
No. 2 University of Connecticut entered Saturday's Champions Classic as one of the hottest teams in college basketball.
However, many at Barclays Center held their breath after an injury occurred in the third quarter of the 85-52 win over No. 22 Louisville.
Fudd fell to the floor, sandwiched between two Louisville players. She immediately reached for her surgically repaired right knee.
The ball remained in play, and Fudd finally mustered the strength to get back up.
She cautiously made her way to the left corner and hit a 3 to give Connecticut a 63-26 lead.
When timeout was finally called, Fudd went straight to the locker room.
“Of course you don't want to see that,” Bakkers said. “But as a team, we really had to stick together and try to weather the storm and not worry about the emotions too much and just focus on the game, but I definitely felt for her.” [in that moment]”
Fudd returned to the team's bench late in the third quarter and did not play after that. But by the fourth, he could be seen standing and cheering on his teammates as they crushed Louisville.
After the win, Auriemma said Fudd was walking around and “seemed to be in good spirits.”
“It didn't seem like a worst-case scenario,” Auriemma said. “We were hoping so with our heads bent…We'll know more when we get back, but I hope I was right. But that's not the worst-case scenario.”
Still, that brief moment Saturday was a reminder of how quickly a serious injury can dash championship hopes.
