UConn defeated Notre Dame 70-52 to win Fort Worth Region 1 and advance to the Final Four. Their opponent will be either South Carolina or TCU.
Notre Dame came into the Elite Eight matchup with UConn on Sunday prepared for what All-Americans Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd could do, already stung by them once in an 85-47 loss in January.
It’s the bench that wound up making the difference in this one until Strong and Fudd broke free in the fourth quarter. The subs, led by Blanca Quinonez, contributed 32 points as top-seeded UConn advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament with a hard-fought 70-52 victory over the No. 6 Irish to cut down the nets at Fort Worth Region 1.
In a national semifinal game next weekend in Phoenix, UConn (38-0) will play the winner of the Monday night game between South Carolina, the top seed in the Sacramento Region 4, and third-seeded TCU.
It will be the 25th trip to the Final Four for the Huskies, who are the defending champions and have won 53 consecutive games. The program has 12 national titles. It is the 17th time in the past 18 seasons that head coach Geno Auriemma has led UConn to the final round of the tournament.
Defense, defense
UConn got a dose of its own medicine in this game. All season, the Huskies badgered their opponents defensively, and that’s what the Irish did to them. Notre Dame (25-11) was successful in denying Strong touches of the ball in the first half, limiting the National Player of the Year candidate to just six points.
The Huskies turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 10 times in the first 20 minutes and went into the locker room at the half with a 32-25 lead. In their second-round victory over Syracuse, the Huskies scored 33 in the first quarter alone.
At the same time, UConn was just as determined to keep track of Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She entered the game leading the nation in steals with 5.69 and third in scoring with 25.3 points per game.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo grabs a rebound against UConn guard KK Arnold (2) during the first half of an Elite Eight matchup at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday. UConn won 70-52 to advance to the Final Four. Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesUConn played its typically tough defense and made Hidalgo work for everything she got. She scored 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting and made 7 of 10 free throws. She had a team-high 11 rebounds and three steals.
The Huskies took a 47-36 lead entering the fourth quarter – one of just four times they led by 11 points or fewer this season heading into the final stanza. In the huddle between quarters, Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey told her players that they needed to make a stand and shut down UConn to grab the momentum.
The Huskies had other ideas.
In the first four minutes of the quarter, the UConn lead ballooned to 60-42 on two Fudd jump shots, 3-pointers by Strong and Quinonez and three free throws. The Irish never got closer than 15 points the rest of the game.
Quinonez, the Big East Freshman of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year, sparked the Huskies with 20 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench Strong scored a team-high 21 points – 10 of them in the fourth quarter – and added seven rebounds, three blocks and five steals, but Notre Dame’s tough defense made nothing easy for her.
Fudd added 13 points – seven in the fourth quarter – and four assists.
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