After No. 1 UConn clinched the Big East regular-season championship, Azzi Fudd shared why she chose to play for the Huskies.

“You come to UConn to win a championship,” said Fudd, a graduate student who has spent five years in Storrs. “All of them. First the regular season, then the Big East tournament and then the national championship.”

Second task accomplished.

Top seed UConn defeated No. 2 seed Villanova 90-51 Monday night to win the Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. It is the 31st conference championship for UConn in head coach Geno Auriemma’s 41 years, their 13th in a row.

Soon, the undefeated Huskies (34-0) will begin their defense of their 2025 national championship as they pursue the program’s 13th overall.

“It’s what we’ve been working for all year. It means a lot to finally get this win,” Fudd told NBC Sports after the game.

They will not find out their NCAA Tournament seeding – it’s expected to be No. 1 overall, though UCLA has growing support – or their opening opponent until Sunday.

Villanova (25-6) will be waiting to see if its resume is good enough to make the tournament field. Amid the postgame celebration, Auriemma said Villanova deserves a spot.

“I'm not sure people realize how hard it is to play against teams like Villanova because of how much they move and how good they are,” he said, covered in confetti. “Whoever gets them in the NCAA Tournament is going to have their hands full.”

UConn handed the Wildcats their biggest loss of the season, 99-50 on Jan. 15, in Connecticut. In their second meeting, Villanova gave UConn a stiff challenge on the Wildcats’ home floor, with the 83-69 win the closest margin of victory in a Big East game for the Huskies this season.

So, the question was this heading into the Monday final. Would fans see a repeat of the first game or the second one? In the second one, Villanova led at the half 40-37 – the only team to hold a halftime lead against the Huskies.

It turned out to be more like the first game.

UConn jumped out to a 17-5 lead in the first quarter, and by halftime, the Huskies were up 49-23 after second-quarter runs of 10-0 and 7-0.

With the bench players largely on the floor the entire fourth quarter, UConn outscored Villanova 19-9 in the frame.

Sarah Strong and Fudd got UConn off to their quick start in the first quarter, then sat much of the second half. Strong scored nine points and Fudd added six in the quarter.

Fudd led the Huskies with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Strong had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds in just 22 minutes.

Freshman Blanca Quinonez, in her first Big East tournament, scored 13 points in 19 minutes. KK Arnold added 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists.

For their efforts in three wins in three nights – by a total margin of victory of 133 points – Strong was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Arnold and Fudd received All-Tournament Team honors, as did Jasmine Bascoe and Kennedy Henry of Villanova.

Bascoe led the Wildcats with 14 points and Henry had nine, but the two combined for a 9-of-34 shooting performance.

Villanova was held to 27.3% from the field and 18.9% from the line. The Huskies shot 52.3% and 31.8%, respectively.

Remember to join our UCONN on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Huskies fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!