Azzi Fudd isn't your typical college student. As a guard for the esteemed UConn Huskies basketball team, she's stepped into the ever-growing spotlight on women's sports — all while balancing classes, her "Fudd Around and Find Out" podcast, and a (not-so) personal life. It's a lot for any 22-year-old to handle, but Fudd still manages to make it look easy — even if she still gets nervous from time to time. "It's excited nerves," she tell Popsugar, as part of her recent partnership with Celsius. "Like I'm so excited to go out there and play with my team and have the 'UConn' on my chest."

For context, basketball practice starts at 1:30 p.m., which means Fudd begins warming up with a pre-practice workout and warmup lift around noon. After practice, she does a normal lift, followed by a recovery session, which includes cold tubs, saunas, manual treatment, and stretching. Fudd adds that, although she hates needles, she'd endure a recovery IV in the name of rest and repair. If it were up to her, she'd even visit a cryotherapy chamber . . . but sadly, there aren't any close enough to campus.

"It's just a busy, all-day, non-stop, every single day, all-week affair," Fudd says. She admits it can get a little tedious at times, "but you can really feel a difference when you're intentional and purposeful about the recovery and treatment that you're giving your body."

"You can really feel a difference when you're intentional and purposeful about the recovery."

When it comes to actual game day, Fudd is at laster-focused — mentally and physically. Plus, she always comes prepared: "My must haves for game day are a devotional, either a speaker [or] headphones, and a Celsius," she says (peach vibe is her favorite flavor). Her pre-game rituals aren't to be skipped, either. "I always get my hair braided — my teammate does my hair. I read my devotional, pre-game poop, and [drink a] pre-game Celsius," she says. Come again? "A pre-game poop," she repeats and laughs. "When I feel my nerves, it's in my stomach. So I gotta let it go — relax, you know? Get it all out, and then you're ready to go." On the off chance that doesn't cut it though, Fudd can always count on her teammates to keep her in a good headspace. "My teammates really ground me, and getting to play with people who are your best friends that you love and that you'd run through a wall for just makes it more meaningful," she says.

It's clear that Fudd puts in the work, but it also seems like she's still genuinely enjoying herself, despite the intense scrutiny many women athletes face (on and off the court). It's not that she's totally immune from this pressure — she just has the right mindset to get through it in one piece. "You can't make every shot, you can't do everything perfectly," Fudd says. "So that's something that I've been working on is making sure that those moments of self-doubt are exactly that — just moments."

Chandler Plante (she/her) is a social producer and staff writer for the Health & Fitness team at Popsugar. She has over five years of industry experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine, a social media manager for Millie magazine, and a contributor for Bustle Digital Group. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and is based in Los Angeles.