The Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun met Thursday night in Hartford. WIth the Sun set to relocate, this could have been the last time Fudd and Bueckers play a WNBA contest in the state.
Azzi Fudd returned to a familiar court on Thursday, looking very familiar.
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 WNBA Draft in April, UConn alum Fudd has appeared a bit more sophisticated as a starter with the Dallas Wings, styling her hair to sit atop her head.
But when the Wings took the court on Thursday against the Connecticut Sun in Hartford, she looked like the Azzi Fudd who captured the hearts of Huskies fans during her five years in Storrs.
Fudd put her hair in braids – her signature at UConn – for this game, which marked the final time that she and fellow Huskies alum Paige Bueckers likely will play in the 860 as pros.
With the Sun franchise planning to leave Connecticut and relocate to Houston after this season, Thursday represented the final time the Wings are scheduled to travel to the state for a game. While the Mohegan Sun Arena is the traditional home court of the Sun, this game was played at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford – an alternate home for the Huskies, too.
Saying goodbye in style
The fact that their WNBA playing days in the state were likely ending didn’t escape Fudd and Bueckers. They entered the arena wearing UConn-branded garb – Fudd in a hoodie and Bueckers in a jacket. They were joined by the Sun’s Aaliyah Edwards, another former member of the Huskies, who wore a dress resembling her UConn uniform for the occasion.
Postgame, Bueckers said she hopes this wasn’t her final time playing before fans in Connecticut.
“I hope we can get like an exhibition game or something at Gampel (Pavilion) on campus. That would be really cool, so kind of speaking that into existence,” she said.
What message did she have for fans in Connecticut?
“Just how grateful I am for them, the support I’ve had the entire five years, but I know it's going to be continued for the rest of my life.
“It's just like a family, just this whole entire state supporting us, backing us, loving women's basketball, loving everything about it. And we feel the support across the world, too, so just to feel their support, we're forever grateful, forever indebted. This will always be a second home and, yeah, I really love it here.”
“The five years that we both had here, they showed up every single night, and it just was such an incredible experience that I wouldn’t change. And they're part of the reason that it's also the basketball capital of the world,” Fudd said.
Game notes
The Wings pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat the Sun 86-83.
With Dallas trailing 62-55 entering the fourth quarter, the Sun expanded the lead to 11 – 70-59 – on a Brittney Griner layup with 7:11 remaining in the game.
But the Wings’ UConn contingent and their teammates didn’t give up. They whittled away at the deficit and took the lead at 80-78 on a Bueckers jumper with 1:17 left.
It was a rough night for Fudd, who was 0-for-5 shooting through the first three quarters. She made both of her shot attempts in the fourth – the biggest one coming with 51.7 remaining when she made a 16-footer to put the Wings up by two points again.
The Wings outscored the Sun 27-13 after the Griner score, with Bueckers scoring 11 in the final quarter.
On the night, Bueckers scored 25 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists.
For the Sun, Edwards and another UConn product, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, each scored 11 points.
Edwards added three rebounds and four assists, and Nelson-Ododa contributed eight boards and an assist.
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