Huskies Too Strong For Fighting Irish

AP/ Jessica Hill

The UConn Huskies (6-0) went head to head with their biggest rival Saturday with the #1 spot in the nation on the line. The 3rd ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1) came in after losing the last two national titles to the Huskies, had revenge on their mind. However, a different Notre Dame team came to Storrs Connecticut with some injuries to key players, Brianna Turner (14 pts per game) was out due to a shoulder injury and Taya Reimer is out with an Achillies injury. The Fighting Irish also lost Jewell Loyd to the WNBA last year after last season’s loss in the national title game. Notre Dame was given the recipe for success though after DePaul on Wednesday showed they could hang tough with UConn for a little over a half. The way to beat UConn is to keep fresh legs on the floor to play great defense, limit turnovers, and hit a lot of threes. DePaul did all of that for about 25 minutes, unfortunately UConn wouldn’t allow DePaul to play spoiler. If Notre Dame could keep to the plan, they could have a shot to knock off the Huskies.

Game Recap

UConn opened quickly with 2 put backs by Morgan Tuck. Jefferson, then hit two short shots herself to force a Notre Dame timeout at 6:01 with UConn up 10-2. Out of the timeout both teams traded missed baskets and turnovers. Notre Dame is forcing UConn to make mistakes, but Stewart shows why she’s the best player in the country with a put back and a free throw to put Uconn up 20-12. Notre Dame hit a couple of 3’s to end the quarter, but Stewart continued to dominate down low as UConn led at the end of the first 27-18.

The Mabry sisters are huge pieces of the Fighting Irish offense, with Mckayla hitting a three pointer to start the second quarter, followed by a layup by her sister Marina to cut the lead to 27-23. Marina didn’t stop after that though, back to back shots, forces a UConn timeout at 7:03 with the UConn lead just 1 point at 31-30. Marina Mabry has been impressive to start with 19 points. Notre Dame would take the first lead of the game with a layup by Kristina Nelson. Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson has struggled from the field, but finally hit a 3 to regain the lead 34-32. Madison Cable hits a three, then 2 free throws to give Notre Dame the 39-38 lead. Marina Mabry again puts Notre Dame on top 43-42, but Jefferson goes down to the other end and hits a three to give UConn the 45-43 lead at the half.

The two teams traded baskets early, with Jefferson stealing and scoring and Mabry scoring her 23rd point of the game. Breanna Stewart gets a great pass from Samuelson and a bucket to give UConn a 55-49 lead. Jefferson is a great point guard, not only great for her assists, but she can shoot too, a big three between Notre Dame offensive fouls extends the lead to 9. Back to back turnovers leads to 4 more UConn points forcing a Notre Dame timeout, with UConn leading 64-56. UConn finishes the third with a 14-2 run to take a commanding 72-56 lead.

The Huskies came out firing again in the fourth with 6 more points to extend the lead to 22 points. Notre Dame did not give up though, Cable hits back to back 3 pointers to cut the lead to 14. Cable hits another three as they go into the media break with UConn leading 80-69. Samuelson hits a three out of the timeout, she has 13 points off the bench. Back to back threes by Ogunbowale makes it an 11 point game again. Tuck is a great rebounder, she grabs another one and puts it back in for her 21st point of the night. 5 UConn players in double figures as the Huskies win 91-81.

Reflection

The keys were keep fresh legs, limit turnovers, and hit a lot of threes. For 20 minutes Notre Dame was able to do just that, however, UConn Is just too deep and too consistent to be stopped. Marina Mabry for Notre Dame had 21 points in the first half, 7-10 from 3 for the first half, and looked like she was going to be the one to score and keep them in the game. Geno Auriemma and his staff are too smart to let Mabry take over the game though. Mabry had just 2 points in the second half and didn’t score in last 19 minutes of the game. The combination of Stewart and Tuck took advantage of the missing Notre Dame players scoring 49 of the 91 points for the Huskies. Friday the Huskies will be at home to take on the 13th ranked Florida State Seminoles.