The No. 1 UConn women held off a valiant comeback effort by No. 6 Michigan, winning 72-69 to remain undefeated on the season Friday in Uncasville, Conn.

It was the debut meeting between the programs, and Michigan was bidding for its first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team.

Azzi Fudd scored 31 points – 13 of them in the fourth quarter – to lead the Huskies. Sarah Strong had a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.

Syla Swords pulled down nine rebounds and scored 29 points for the Wolverines on 9-of-21 shooting (8 of 14 from 3-point territory), including 21 in the second half, as she led the comeback charge for Michigan. Olivia Olson had 18 points and nine rebounds. 

A tale of two halves

The game looked like a laugher in the first half.

The Huskies, the reigning national champions, silenced Michigan with their suffocating defense in the first half. The Wolverines (4-1) entered the game standing fourth in the nation in team scoring at 99.3 points per game and No. 2 in shooting percentage at 55.76%.

But the Huskies (5-0) held the Wolverines to a 27.8 shooting percentage (10 of 36) while finding the basket 45.9% of the time (17 of 37) themselves in the half.

UConn went into the locker room at Mohegan Sun Arena with a 45-27 lead. The teams met there as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in a “neutral” site game, but the crowed was far from neutral. The arena is just 30 miles from the Huskies’ campus in Storrs, and they moved to 46-1 in the building.

But Michigan was of no mind to give up, despite falling behind 47-27 early in the second half. The Wolverines frazzled and hassled the Huskies, outscoring them 21-4 in the third quarter by holding them to 2-of-15 shooting and forcing an uncharacteristic seven turnovers. Swords hit all three of her 3-point attempts.

Strong, who hit the double-double mark in the first half with 10 points and 10 rebounds, was held to 1-of-5 shooting in the third quarter and Fudd was 0-of-3 shooting.

Michigan whittled the lead to four at the end of the third quarter, 49-45.

An Azzi Fudd classic

The Wolverines hit the first basket of the fourth to take the deficit to two points, but Fudd took over, draining three consecutive 3-point shots to give the Huskies some breathing room and an 11-point lead.

After a 3-pointer by KK Arnold, the lead was 13 with 3:37 to play. But Michigan, behind three 3-pointers and a basket by Swords, went on a 14-4 run to get to within two points with 22 seconds left.

Fudd, a 91.3% shooter from the free-throw line, was fouled by Swords to stop the clock and made both shots, and Swords followed with another 3-pointer to cut UConn’s lead to 70-69 with 12 seconds left.

Fudd, fouled again, made two more free throws to give UConn a 3-point lead with eight seconds left.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma chose not to call a time out to set up his defense, and the Huskies went to the trap, forcing Swords to make a bad pass that was stolen by Arnold.

Michigan pulled off a steal of its own with just a second on the clock and couldn’t get off a shot.

Next up for UConn is a Sunday match with Utah, which lost to Syracuse in the first game of the showcase. The Wolverines will play Syracuse that day.