Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd do the usual in Hartford, win. This time with Dallas Wings

HARTFORD, CT — UConn women’s basketball legends Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd returned to the state that made them champions.

Then the pair experienced something they were used to at PeoplesBank Arena — winning — but it took a comeback of epic proportions.

Bueckers and Fudd helped the Dallas Wings defeat the Connecticut Sun, 86-83, on Thursday, July 2, before a near sellout crowd of 14,579. The Wings rallied from a 24-point deficit to stop the Sun’s two-game win streak.

“It was (a) great crowd, it was a great environment,” Bueckers said of the fans, who cheered loudly as the Wings made their comeback. “It felt like a home game in a sense.

“It’s great to play back here in Connecticut. I love it here.”

UConn played half of its home games at the Hartford arena. Bueckers lost just one game and Fudd two over their careers here. They both wore UConn gear for their pregame tunnel fits.

The Wings outscored the Sun 51-40 in the second half. Bueckers had 11 of her team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. She added seven rebounds and seven assists. Fudd had both her baskets in the frame and finished with four points, four rebounds and five assists.

Bueckers said the adjustments at halftime were pretty simple.

“Making shots, sometimes it’s as simple as that,” Bueckers said. “We were shooting just about 30% at the half and we felt very confident in the shots that we were getting. … Just sticking with what works.

“We got a lot of people step up, take open shots, be aggressive and get to the free-throw line more in the second half.”

Bueckers had two and-ones down the stretch that fueled the comeback.

“The first one … (Leila) Lacan jumped a pass on the inbound, so I was just trying to create something. … I just felt contact and kind of threw it up,” Bueckers said “The second one, my teammates just did a really good job of spacing the floor and just me just trying to be aggressive, hunt for a shot.”

Fittingly, Bueckers scored her first 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Fudd. Several former UConn teammates showed up to cheer on their friends. Fudd shared before the game that Jana El Alfy braided her hair before the game. Allie Ziebell, Ashlynn Shade and Gandy Malou-Mamel were also in the crowd.

“The five years we both had (at UConn), they showed up every single night,” Fudd said of the fans, including her former teammates. “It just was such an incredible experience … they’re part of the reason that it’s the basketball capital of the world.”

The basketball capital has produced many of the best players in the W. Bueckers’ popularity has continued to skyrocket since her time at UConn. In her second season in the WNBA, she was voted an All-Star starter on Thursday. Bueckers was the leader in fan balloting with 1,045,051 votes. Former Huskies Breanna Stewart and Gabby Williams were also voted starters for the All-Star Game, which will take place in Chicago on July 25.

This could be the final game for Bueckers and Fudd in Connecticut. The Sun will be relocated to Houston next season. Bueckers suggested the Wings play an exhibition game at Gampel Pavilion, in Storrs, Connecticut, in the future.

“It’s just like a family, this whole entire state supporting us … loving women’s basketball, loving everything about it,” Bueckers said. “We feel the support across the world, too.

“This will always be a second home.”