The unranked Notre Dame women’s basketball team produced flashes of hope in a Monday afternoon brawl against No. 1 UConn in Storrs, Connecticut. But a flash became a distress signal, and an even second quarter gave way to a 85-47 thrashing-in-the-jaws of a devastating Huskies defense.
The Irish entered the affair on a three-game streak of upset victories against the perennially championship contender Huskies. UConn had last won against Notre Dame on Dec. 5, 2021, and since then lost as the No. 3 team in 2022, and No. 2 twice across the calendar year of 2024. The Irish came into each of those matchups as a top-10 team, but after two recent losses against unranked Georgia Tech and Duke, Notre Dame dropped to No. 23. After a 13-point loss to No. 9 Louisville on Jan. 15, the Irish dropped out of the poll entirely.
The Irish also arrived with a 5-26 record against top-ranked opponents. UConn was the vanquished superpower on all five occasions, but any possibility of a sixth was quickly denied.
The Irish opened with seven straight missed baskets and an 8-0 hole under a deafening, sold-out crowd. Nerves from both teams reverberated up and down the dome of the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. The Irish finally got on the board with a foul shot by graduate forward Malaya Cowles – by then the only other Notre Dame stat of record was a single steal by senior guard Cassandre Prosper.
From there, inaction became violence. The basketball rolled freely across the court on three occasions in the first quarter, each devolving into a wrestling match. The Notre Dame offense began to come alive, but so did the outstretched arms of UConn star graduate guard Azzi Fudd, who knocked a pass intended for Notre Dame all-American junior guard Hannah Hidalgo into the stratosphere. High swipes at the Irish superstar were constant, forcing blind, high shooting that returned to earth a zip code shy of the basket.
The pressure did produce some diamond Irish passes, including an assist by graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus that led to the first Irish field goal, a hook shot by Prosper at the four-minute mark. The quarter ended with a 16-7 Irish deficit, both teams struggling to shoot from a distance. Notre Dame finished the night at just 6.3% accuracy from beyond the arc.
The second quarter brought the Irish fight and a brief rendition of “Dirty Dancing.” Hidalgo was in the air and nowhere the Huskies looked. As soon as the break ended, she broke free to sink a behind-the-back layup and flew over Husky freshman forward Blanca Quiñonez to blot out what would have been an uncontested shot. Later in the quarter, in just her 57th career game, sophomore forward Sarah Strong sunk her 1000th point for the Huskies on a 10-point jumper to put the Huskies up 30-16.
Just to reach 20 points was a struggle for Notre Dame. Hidalgo stole the ball, was rocked by the defense, lost the ball, recovered herself and the ball and finally managed a pass to Prosper who put it in graduate forward Gisela Sanchez’s hands for an eight-foot turnaround jump shot.
The half ended at 32-23, the Irish producing a 16-16 second quarter, despite only one successful three-point shot. Strong and Hidalgo each finished with 10 points. The Huskies and Irish were relatively similar across the statsheet, Notre Dame better off on steals and turnovers, UConn on assists and rebounds.
All told, it was the closest half for the Huskies this season, yet the Irish still had ground to make up. Shooting percentage was a common problem, with Notre Dame 10% lower than UConn within and beyond the 3-point line. Hidalgo and Prosper’s ability to find a calm place to shoot was a prototype for success in the first half, but the UConn defense ensured it would go unrealized after the intermission.
The third quarter was a sobering experience. Prosper drove a layup in at the start of the half, then the Irish allowed 16 straight. By the time graduate guard Iyana Moore stopped the bleeding with two made foul shots, UConn led 52-29.
The Irish allowed multiple uncontested shots, and when Prosper did sink the occasional jumper, UConn answered immediately. The Huskies made it a 24-point game on a 22-foot jumper by sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel, making it an insurmountable 24-point lead at the conclusion of three quarters. It was a 27-12 disaster of a quarter for the Irish, and the game slowed down to match that reality.
Irish turnovers made the gap larger, UConn running many back to the house. Hidalgo kept trying to restart momentum with solid defensive play in the paint, but couldn’t overcome the interior power of junior guard KK Arnold.
Sanchez put down a 19-footer in the waning minutes to close the Irish scoring as the arena emptied. Notre Dame dropped to 12-6 while the Huskies kept their 35-game winning streak alive, including 14 straight by more than 25 points.