Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma knows perhaps better than anyone that winning a championship isn’t always just about skill.

This includes luck and perfect timing.

Teams need to stay healthy and perform at their best when it matters most.

Health hasn’t been a major strength for Connecticut (8-0) in recent seasons.

Paige Bueckers, the top player in the 2020 recruiting class, missed the entire 2022-23 season to rehab with a knee injury.

Azzi Fudd, the top player in the 2021 class, was sidelined for most of last season and the start of this season after suffering a torn ACL and a torn medial meniscus.

In some ways, this season has taken years to prepare for.

After all, Bueckers and Fudd both have a clean bill of health. The two Connecticut stars can combine forces and perhaps lead the Huskies to their record 12th championship and end Auriemma’s nine-year title drought – his longest since he won his first in 1995.

No. 2 Connecticut entered the Champions Classic on Saturday as one of the hottest teams in college basketball.

But an injury scare in the third quarter of their 85-52 win over No. 22 Louisville left many at Barclays Center holding their breath.

Fudd became trapped between two Louisville players and fell to the ground. She immediately reached for her surgically repaired right knee.

The ball stayed in play and Fudd finally found the strength to stand up.

She moved gingerly to the left corner, where she made a 3 that gave Connecticut a 63-26 lead.

When a timeout was finally called, Fudd headed straight to the locker room.

“Of course you don’t want to see that,” Bueckers said. “But as a team we really had to stick together, weather the storm, not get too caught up in the emotions and try to just focus on the game, but definitely have compassion for them (in that moment).”

Fudd returned to the team’s bench later in the third quarter and did not play another second. However, in the fourth game, she was seen standing and cheering on her teammates as they destroyed Louisville.

After the win, Auriemma said Fudd was walking around and seemed “fine.”

“It didn’t look like a worst-case scenario,” Auriemma said. “We crossed our fingers and hoped so… We’ll know more when we get back, but I hope I’m right. But it’s not the worst-case scenario.”

Still, that brief moment Saturday was a reminder of how quickly a serious injury could derail championship hopes.