{"id":619037,"date":"2026-05-02T10:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T10:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619037\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T10:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T10:15:19","slug":"uconns-azzi-fudd-serah-williams-make-wnba-preseason-debuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619037\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn’s Azzi Fudd, Serah Williams make WNBA preseason debuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her first preseason WNBA game with the Dallas Wings<\/a>, former UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> star Azzi Fudd<\/a> got her \u2018welcome to the league\u2019 moment from the referees.<\/p>\n

Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick<\/a> in the 2026 WNBA Draft, came out strong and hit her first shot as a pro less than a minute into Dallas\u2019s matchup against the Indiana Fever on Thursday night, dribbling into a textbook mid-range jump shot over Fever superstar Caitlin Clark. But it would be the lone field goal Fudd hit in the first half after she found herself in foul trouble, picking up three in just eight minutes on the court.<\/p>\n

It was uncharacteristic for Fudd, who was the only UConn starter to average less than a foul per game during her final college season. The foul trouble disrupted her ability to settle into a rhythm, and she played just 16 minutes in her debut finishing with four points shooting 2-for-7 from the field.<\/p>\n

Still, Fudd was able to adjust and didn\u2019t pick up a single foul after halftime, and Wings coach Jose Fernandez isn\u2019t concerned about the star guard as Dallas heads into its second preseason game Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had those three, but we tried to get her on some flares and pin-downs,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cShe\u2019ll be fine. I liked her aggressiveness off the bounce. She had one (shot) that went in and out. It\u2019s good to get one under her belt, and now we move on to Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the quiet night from Fudd, the Wings came away with a comfortable 95-80 win behind the stellar performance of fellow UConn great Paige Bueckers<\/a>. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year put up 20 points shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from 3-point range, also adding three assists and a steal in 20 minutes on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teammates just setting me good screens, point guards doing a really good job of helping get me open and just setting the tone for how aggressive we want to play on both sides of the floor,\u201d Bueckers said postgame. \u201cReally it\u2019s just a testament to my teammates getting me open and helping me get those open looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn star Azzi Fudd \u2018couldn\u2019t be happier\u2019 to join Dallas Wings as No. 1 WNBA Draft pick<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Serah Williams impresses<\/p>\n

Former UConn center Serah Williams<\/a> also played her first professional game this week with the Portland Fire<\/a>, and she was a standout despite her team\u2019s 91-81 loss to the Seattle Storm. Though she played just 10 minutes, Williams put up nine points shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, and she went 3-for-4 at the free throw line.<\/p>\n

Williams added three rebounds, including an offensive board that she put back for her first points of the game. The 6-foot-4 center was also impactful on the defensive end with a block and a steal, and she had the second-highest plus\/minus of any player off the Fire bench.<\/p>\n

It was an important performance for Williams as she fights to make the cut for Portland\u2019s final 12-player roster \u2014 or one of its two developmental spots. Competition is wide open in Fire camp with team starting from scratch as a new expansion franchise this season, and Williams is also in a strong position because Portland gave up a pick to acquire her in a trade<\/a> with the Connecticut Sun<\/a> on draft night. The Sun took Williams with the No. 33 pick, then sent her to the Fire in exchange for No. 37 pick Taylor Bigby and a 2027 third-rounder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot have too many UConn players on your team, ever,\u201d Fire general manager Vanja Cernivec said on draft night. \u201cShe\u2019s a player we think has a lot of potential, and with our coaching staff and in our system, we think we can develop her into a really, really good player and pillar on our team \u2026 I\u2019m very excited to see\u00a0Serah when she comes here. I think she has a great chance to make our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portland plays its second preseason game Sunday against the Los Angeles Sparks. Final roster decisions are due May 7 before the regular season officially begins May 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In her first preseason WNBA game with the Dallas Wings, former UConn women\u2019s basketball star Azzi Fudd got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[16393,2000,15861,2834,15862,2839,135061,983,168221,12077,4676,103360,99,31478,31477,434,2940,264412],"class_list":["post-619037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-azzi-fudd","tag-connecticut","tag-ct-news","tag-dallas-wings","tag-hartford-courant","tag-indiana-fever","tag-jose-fernandez","tag-local-news","tag-max-image-preview","tag-portland-fire","tag-seattle-storm","tag-serah-williams","tag-sports","tag-uconn-huskies","tag-uconn-womens-basketball","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-draft","tag-wnba-preseason"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}