Storrs — The hour was late and a packed Gampel Pavilion was emptying Monday night following a second-round game in the NCAA tournament.

The second-seeded UConn women's basketball team, a 52-47 winner over No. 7 Central Florida, had been exchanging high-fives with a vibrant student section, freshman Azzi Fudd was doing a radio interview with the voice of the Huskies, Bob Joyce, and as the two walked toward the tunnel that leads to the locker room, associate coach Chris Dailey threw her arm around the shoulder of a triumphant Christyn Williams.

Williams hasn't talked much about herself recently, only the pride she has in her teammates and their poise and mettle.

And yet 1,802 points after her arrival at UConn, with the Huskies (27-5) headed to the third Sweet 16 of her career (the tournament was canceled in 2020), Williams is one of the people you like to see with the ball in her hands in March.

UConn heads to its 28th consecutive Sweet 16 on Saturday to face No. 3 Indiana in Bridgeport (2 p.m., ESPN).

"I said that you played like a senior," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of Williams' game Monday night, which featured 12 points, including 5-for-6 from the free throw line and a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. "Azzi (Fudd, a freshman and high scorer with 16) played like a senior down the stretch.

"Well, Azzi may or not be in three more of these. Christyn ain't. So you need to play like 'This might be my last opportunity and I've got to make sure I do everything I can' and today she did."

Williams drilled her only 3 of the game with 7 minutes, 42 seconds remaining to give the Huskies an 11-point lead at 44-33. With bodies flying and whistles sounding and so much to sort out in front of 10,167 Gampel fans, Williams, in her last career game at the arena, then hit two free throws with 19.6 seconds to play.

"I thought we were very poised down the stretch as a team," Williams said. "We had to limit our turnovers because they were pressing the entire game. And kudos to Azzi. She did a very good job of handling the ball in the backcourt — (to Fudd), you did; you're a freshman, bro; you did good — she might not think she did but it's hard out there.

"I'm just proud of our team that we held it together down the stretch."

Anyway, about Williams and March ...

A 5-foot-11 guard from Little Rock, Ark., Williams was named Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player recently, giving her league tournament honors in each of her four seasons. The last to accomplish that for UConn? WNBA MVP and Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart.

In last season's NCAA tournament in San Antonio, Williams averaged 18.4 points per game, including three straight games with 20-or-more points. She was named to the River Walk All-Region Team. UConn reached its 13th straight Final Four a year ago but faltered in the national semifinals against Arizona.

Williams is UConn's leading scorer with 14.5 points per game and she's the team's co-leader in steals with 47. She's played in 128 career games and started 127.

And yet UConn hasn't won a national title in Williams' tenure, something which seems to weigh on her.

Asked by ESPN announcer Holly Rowe what her legacy will be with the Huskies, she said she feels like she's not done writing it yet and to get back to her in April.

"It's neither fair nor unfair," Auriemma said of the expectations heaped on Williams, a former 3,000-point scorer in high school and the 2018 Gatorade National Player of the Year. "It is what it is. When you're a player that comes out of high school with all the accolades she had and now you go to UConn, you're ultimately judged on how you play in the postseason.

"So if you just say she had a great career, what'd she have? That's a lot of points. I bet you there aren't a lot of guys that have more than that. There's things that she doesn't do that I harp on her about every single minute of every day but there are things that she does that no one else on our team can.

"But sometimes the expectations for kids are so high here at UConn that even when they're really, really good, March is everything, good or bad, right or wrong."

Williams, an AP All-America honorable mention pick, is still looking ahead and not behind. For the record, she is 15th all-time on the UConn scoring list, just behind former UConn greats Renee Montgomery (13th) and Svetlana Abrosimova (14th). She has captained the UConn squad, led them as they've overcome injury this season and wrestled through a personal bout with COVID.

Said Williams when Monday came to a close: "We didn't have our best game today but I'm really proud of our team. We grinded it out. It was very ugly, but we got the 'dub' and that's all that matters. Obviously we have things to clean up and sharpen up, but we really grinded it out and fought hard to get this win and it feels really good."

v.fulkerson@theday.com