HARTFORD, Conn. -- Longtime UConn women's basketball associate head coach Chris Dailey received medical attention after collapsing upon the conclusion of the national anthem before the No. 5 Huskies took on No. 10 NC State at the XL Center on Sunday.
Dailey was helped onto a stretcher and taken off the floor, waving to the crowd as she was being carried out.
After UConn's 91-69 victory -- marking back-to-back wins for the Huskies over top-10 teams -- coach Geno Auriemma said that Dailey "is good. Everything tested out pretty good. Nothing serious, nothing threatening."
The school announced after the game that Dailey was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.
Auriemma added she wasn't feeling great earlier in the day and felt that something wasn't right.
"When she was on the floor, everything runs through your mind," Auriemma said. "Every possible scenario, everything you can imagine. I'm just glad we have really, really good people here, so they were on it right away. I know it shook up a lot of people in our program."
Visibly shaken UConn players returned to the locker room before NC State coach Wes Moore and Auriemma consulted with officials. They added an extra 10 minutes to the clock for warm-ups.
The Huskies started the game with the remainder of the coaching staff on the bench: Auriemma and assistants Jamelle Elliott and Morgan Valley.
UConn has been through a trying stretch to start the 2022-23 season, as 2020-21 national player of the year Paige Bueckers is out with a season-ending ACL tear and freshman Ice Brady is similarly done for the season with a dislocated patella. Sophomore Caroline Ducharme (neck stiffness) is making her way back to full health, while graduating student Dorka Juhász is out for at least three games with a broken thumb.
Dailey has been part of Auriemma's coaching staff since arriving in Storrs in 1985. She has also served as head coach in his absence, leading UConn to a 13-0 record in games without him.
As scary as the incident was for the Huskies, they came out collected to start the game, going on a 9-0 run that forced NC State to call an early timeout. The Wolfpack pulled within three in the second quarter, but UConn blew it open in the second half, outscoring NC State 51-36.
"We definitely played this game for CD," said sophomore Nika Muhl, who set a program record for single-game assists with 15. "She definitely gave us strength."
Muhl said Auriemma told the team before the game that Dailey was OK.
"After we found out that CD is fine, that everything is OK, that brought us even closer together and gave us even more energy," Muhl said.
After the game, Muhl said, the team saw Dailey had texted the group, "'guys, I'm sorry for the drama, I'm fine.'"
Despite the depleted roster and Dailey's health scare, UConn improved to 3-0 with their victory. Azzi Fudd led the Huskies with 32 points, her second consecutive game with that many. The win marked their first 20-plus point defeat of an AP top-10 opponent since 2018, when they took down South Carolina by 29 in the Elite Eight.