"Atomic Dogs": UConn fans left in disbelief over Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Ashlynn Shade's explosive game vs Iowa State

The UConn Huskies, led by Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Ashlynn Shade, defeated the Iowa State Cyclones 101-68 on Tuesday. Strong led the team with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Bueckers and Shade finished with 27 points apiece.

The UConn Women's Basketball X page posted a graphic of the game's result, along with a photo of the three stars celebrating on the Huskies' bench.

Fans in the comments were full of praise for the Huskies' performance as one wrote:

"Atomic Dogs."

"MY GOATS," another commented.

"We are actually so lucky to have Paige buckers,Sarah strong and Ashlyn shade all on the same team omg💯❤️," a fan wrote.

Ashlynn Shade made her mark as she scored 20 points in the first quarter, going 7-for-7 from the floor, including 6-for-6 from the 3-point line. A fan noted this, writing:

"Ashlynn did her thing tdy🙌🏻🙌🏻."

"This game was straight fire," a fan commented

"The girlies were knocking them dowwwnnnn tonight 😮‍💨," another wrote.

The UConn Huskies also set a program record as they made the most 3-pointers in a single game (20).

Sarah Strong named MVP as the UConn Huskies continue their win streak

The No. 1 recruit from the 2024 class, Sarah Strong is proving her worth as she was named the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase MVP for her incredible performance against the Cyclones.

The forward recorded her career best in scoring, going 10-of-18 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from the 3-point line.

Strong has been racking up the awards this season. She has already been named Big East Player of the Week once and has won Freshman of the Week in four of the first five weeks.

The game was not entirely the Sarah Strong show as most who played for UConn contributed to the win. Kaitlyn Chen finished with a team-high eight assists while Jana El Alfy had nine rebounds and two assists.

Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly praised the Huskies, saying:

“That’s just a great team. They’re just better than us, they’re better coached than us… and when it’s going bad, we had a hard time stopping it. We’ll see where we go.

“I haven’t seen a team shoot the ball like that in a long time, maybe ever. I always joke that basketball is a make-shot, miss-shot game, and they made a lot of them.

The win provides the perfect confidence boost for the Huskies as they prepare for another heavyweight clash against the USC Trojans on Saturday. The last time UConn played a top-ranked team was Notre Dame last Thursday, and they lost the game, struggling to keep up with the Fighting Irish.

The Trojans, with JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen, will be one of Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong's biggest threats to a championship run.