At halftime of its rivalry showdown with Tennessee on Sunday, the undefeated UConn women’s basketball team was getting a brutal reality check.

After leading by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, the No. 1 Huskies had an ugly showing in the second and ended the half tied 42-42 with the No. 15 Lady Vols. This was not a Big East opponent that would go down easily once UConn pulled ahead, and the team was struggling to keep up with Tennessee’s ever-changing lineups and fast-paced defense.

But with the memory of last year’s crushing upset in Knoxville still fresh in their minds, Huskies stars Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong were not going to be denied again.

Behind a 29-11 third quarter, No. 1 UConn avenged its first loss in the rivalry since 2007 with a 96-66 victory in Hartford over the No. 15 Lady Vols. Fudd and Strong combined for 27 points in the second half, leading the Huskies to their biggest victory in the history of the iconic series. It was also Tennessee’s worst loss since a 31-point defeat in 1984.

Fudd, who had her worst offensive game of the season just four days earlier against Xavier, dominated Tennessee with 27 points shooting 11-for-17 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point range. She also led the team with seven assists and added seven rebounds and four steals. It was the redshirt senior’s first 20-point game since UConn’s win over Iowa on Dec. 20.

Strong logged her third 20-piece in the last four games, finishing with 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting. She came a single rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards plus four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Early in the first quarter, it looked like the Huskies were going to have another wire-to-wire blowout. Fudd scored seven points in 90 seconds to set them on an 8-0 opening run, and it took more than three minutes for Tennessee to put its first points on the board. But the offense grew sloppy later in the quarter as the Lady Vols ramped up their pressure. The Huskies gave up five turnovers over a three-minute stretch, giving up an 7-0 run that kept them ahead by just six at the end of the first.

Freshman Blanca Quinonez was out for a second straight game with a shoulder injury, and UConn felt her absence as the Lady Vols found their offensive flow. Forwards Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman combined for 18 points in the first half, and coach Geno Auriemma was visibly frustrated with senior center Serah Williams throughout the start of the game.

Tennessee tied the game 36-36 after star guard Talaysia Cooper blew by multiple Huskies defenders for a layup, prompting Auriemma to immediately take a timeout, but the bleeding didn’t stop for UConn. The team gave up a 10-0 run to give the Lady Vols their first lead of the game, and the Huskies went almost four minutes without hitting a field goal until sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel got out in transition for a layup off an Ashlynn Shade steal.

Fudd knocked down a pull-up jumper with 30 seconds left in the half to send UConn into the locker room tied. She had 15 points in the half and also led the team on the boards.

UConn came out of halftime with a new energy, ripping off a 10-0 run that broke the lead back open. Strong and Fudd began to take over, scoring 10 of the Huskies’ first 15 points in the third quarter, though the Lady Vols refused to go quietly and kept their deficit within four points for more than five minutes.

But once UConn got hot, there was nothing Tennessee could do to slow the onslaught. Heckel was a massive spark for the Huskies late in the third, highlighted by back-to-back layups in less than 30 seconds. She made a spectacular move to fake out her defender on the second that got the sold-out crowd on its feet, and the arena roared even louder when sophomore guard Allie Ziebell cashed a 3-pointer off a Strong block just six seconds before the quarter buzzer.

With all the momentum in its favor, UConn ran away from the Lady Vols in the fourth. It outscored Tennessee 25-13, finishing with 20 forced turnovers that it converted for 26 points. Five different players scored in double digits with Williams adding 12 and Ziebell and Shade logging 10 apiece on top of the performances from Strong and Fudd. The team shot 58.5% from the field and went 11-for-22 on 3-pointers.