TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This time, Azzi Fudd was healthy. And she made a big difference for UConn.
Fudd was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after leading the Huskies to the program's 12th national championship. The dynamic guard scored 24 points during Sunday's 82-59 victory over South Carolina in the title game.
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South Carolina guard Raven Johnson (25) is double teamed by UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard Azzi Fudd (35) during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) shoots against South Carolina forward Sania Feagin (20) during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) brings the ball up court during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) drives to the basket against South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts (21) during the second half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
UConn also reached the Final Four last season, but Fudd was sidelined by a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She could only watch as the Huskies were eliminated by Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the semifinals.
Fudd was ready to go this time around. She scored 19 points in Friday's 85-51 victory over UCLA.
Then, with the Gamecocks trying for a second straight championship, Fudd was terrific. She went 9 for 17 from the field. She also had five rebounds, three steals and an assist.
Fudd scored 11 in the third quarter when the Huskies broke the game open. It was the most points in a single quarter of an NCAA title game by a UConn women's basketball player, and sixth-most by any women's player in a championship.
“I think all of our mindset was just to be aggressive, stay locked in, stay disciplined, stay together,” Fudd said. “And that’s exactly what we did. I happened to score 11 points, but I was doing what the game was giving.”
The cheering crowd for the championship included her parents. Her mother wore a shirt that read “FUDD AROUND AND FIND OUT.”
“I mean, they’re the reason I’m playing basketball," Fudd said. "They taught me most of the things I know. So shoutout Mom and Dad. But to be able to stand here, to see all the people that I love in the crowd, people I love here on the stage with me, I don’t even have words to describe this moment right now.”
Fudd led the way against South Carolina, but she got plenty of help. Sarah Strong had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Paige Bueckers scored 17 points in her final game with UConn.
Healthy again, Fudd paid tribute to her teammates and all the people around her for the championship season.
"My teammates, the people I’m with every single day, they support me, encourage me,” Fudd said. “I lean on them, and they’re there for me every day. My family, the coaching staff, the support staff here, just the people I surround myself with, I think that their resilience then feeds off into me.”
After playing just two games last season, Fudd averaged 13.3 points per game — third on the team behind Bueckers and Strong — and posted career highs in shooting percentage (47.2%) and 3-point rate (44.6%) this season.
The Huskies are 68-8 when Fudd plays and 26-1 when she scores at least 15 points.
“We as coaches felt like Azzi was the key to the tournament,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “We felt if she could have an Azzi-type game, that we would win. We kind of know what we’re going to get from Paige. We kind of know what we’re going to get from Sarah. So Azzi became the focal point for us of who has to step up tonight. And she did magnificently, obviously.”
Though Bueckers is heading to the WNBA, Fudd announced last month she plans to return for one more year in Connecticut.
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South Carolina guard Raven Johnson (25) is double teamed by UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard Azzi Fudd (35) during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) shoots against South Carolina forward Sania Feagin (20) during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) brings the ball up court during the first half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) drives to the basket against South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts (21) during the second half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis, while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an immigration agent reached the local U.S. Attorney's Office: At least five prosecutors have resigned amid controversy over how the U.S. Justice Department is handling the investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Separately, a Justice Department official said Wednesday there's no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation. An FBI probe of Renee Good's death is ongoing.
Strife between federal agents and the public continues to boil, six days since Good was shot in the head while driving off in her Honda Pilot. At one scene, gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where she died. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help after agents in a Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove off.
It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed immigration agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.
“Who doesn't have a whistle?” a man with a bag of them yelled.
Brita Anderson, who lives nearby and came to support neighborhood friends, said she was “incensed” to see agents in tactical gear and gas masks, and wondered about their purpose.
“It felt like the only reason they’d come here is to harass people,” Anderson said.
In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, students protesting the immigration enforcement operation walked out of school, as students in other communities have done this week.
Later, a large crowd gathered outside a hotel in Minneapolis banging drums and blowing whistles as officers wearing helmets and carrying batons stood guard just inside. Meanwhile, confrontations erupted between protesters and officers guarding the federal building being used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
The departures in the U.S. Attorney's Office include First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling prosecution of public fraud schemes in the state, according to people who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge.
The lawsuit says Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“What we are seeing is thousands — plural — thousands of federal agents coming into our city. And, yeah, they’re having a tremendous impact on day-to-day life,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
A judge set a status conference for Wednesday.
Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, responding to the lawsuit, accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
In a different lawsuit, a judge said she would rule by Thursday or Friday on a request to restrict the use of force, such as chemical irritants, on people who are observing and recording agents' activities. Government attorneys argued that officers must protect themselves.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, saying he acted in self-defense. But that explanation has been widely panned by Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
State and local authorities are urging the public to share video and any other evidence as they seek to separately investigate Good's death after federal authorities insisted they would approach it alone and not share information.
In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is proposing that the state ban civil immigration enforcement around courthouses, hospitals, health clinics, schools, churches and other places. She is hoping to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, who is not running for a third term.
“We can take a look at that, but I think banning things absolutely will ramp up the actions of our folks in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said, referring to the Trump administration. “They don’t tend to approach those things appropriately.”
Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is detained by Federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester grabs a tear gas grenade deployed by federal immigration officers near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is sprayed with pepper spray by a Federal agent Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Tear gas is deployed amid protesters near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Tear gas is deployed amid protesters near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is detained by Federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester grabs a tear gas grenade deployed by federal immigration officers near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Fireworks are set off by protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal immigration officers detain a demonstrator outside Bishop Whipple Federal Building after tear gas was deployed Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal immigration officers are seen outside Bishop Whipple Federal Building after tear gas was deployed Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal agents drive through smoke from tear gas dispersed during a protest, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester's face is doused in water after he was pepper sprayed outside of the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - A man gestures as he walks toward a cloud of tear gas that was deployed by federal immigration officers Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters try to avoid tear gas dispersed by federal agents, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents get ready to disperse tear gas into a crowd at a protest, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
