How UConn regained control of rivalry series with Notre Dame

“UConn showed why they’re the best team in the country and undefeated,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey told reporters postgame.

UConn was the heavy favorite in this season’s chapter of the storied rivalry. The Irish dropped out of this week’s AP Poll, so the teams met in a non-Top 25 match-up for the first time since Dec. 8, 2019 — former Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw’s final game in the series before her retirement in April 2020.

The Huskies came out of the gate hot, surging to an 8-0 lead within the game’s first three minutes, forcing Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey to call at a timeout at the 7:07 mark. On the defensive end, UConn held Notre Dame to just 7 points in the first quarter, rendering leading scorer Hannah Hidalgo scoreless.

Hidalgo eventually got going, scoring 10 points in the second quarter, while UConn’s poor first half 3-point shooting (2-for-13) prevented it from creating space from the Irish. The Huskies took a single-digit (32-23) lead into halftime.

“I thought the first two quarters we spent a lot of time — too much time, I think — trying to get the perfect shot, trying to get everything exactly right, and that’s not who we are. I thought we weren’t as aggressive as we can be. We weren’t in the attacking mode like we have been, like we can be,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said.

For the game’s entire second half, UConn had clearly activated its attack mode. The Huskies’ high-intensity, full-court defense overwhelmed Notre Dame, and it quickly became a one-sided contest as more shots began to fall for the Huskies. In a 38-point throttling of the Irish, UConn proved to a national television audience what makes them the top dogs in this rivalry: defense and depth.

Keys to victory

Defense

In two prior career games against the Huskies, Notre Dame junior guard Hannah Hidalgo averaged 31.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. But on Monday, she was held to 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting, four rebounds and two assists.

UConn’s defensive pressure started with guard KK Arnold, who was Hidalgo’s primary defender throughout most of the match-up. Arnold matched Hidalgo with her quickness, and the Huskies expertly executed their defensive game plan, including a variety of schemes underscored by full-court pressure, trapping and elite switching. UConn successfully shook Notre Dame out of its rhythm and neutralized its biggest threat — Hannah Hidalgo’s scoring abilities — with disciplined perimeter defense.

“[Assistant coach] Tonya Cardoza had a great scout. I mean, we went over everything, so I think we felt really prepared and really confident going in the game,” UConn guard Azzi Fudd told reporters. “Defense is something that we’ve really taken pride in this season, but we felt really prepared, really confident — knew our scout.”

The Huskies also shut down the Irish in the paint. Sophomore guard Sarah Strong added three blocks and three steals, while 6’4 grad transfer Serah Williams was a formidable, physical presence in the paint that disrupted what Irish bigs Cassandre Prosper and Malaya Cowles wanted to accomplish.

“Knowing that they have a lot of defensive strategy within this program, I was expecting a lot of different things. They showed a little bit of ice, you know, the hedge,” Ivey told reporters postgame. ” … They have a lot of different things that they’ll throw at you with their ball coverage defensively.”

Depth

Part of what makes UConn’s defense so elite is the depth of its roster. Having multiple defenders who can cycle in and out of the rotation allows players to maximize their energy while on the court.

Depth is a luxury the Huskies have lacked in their most recent meetings with the Irish — UConn faced multiple significant injuries between the 2021-2024 seasons and were often not at full strength. Prior to Monday’s game, Azzi Fudd had played just 13 total minutes against the Irish across her first four seasons as a Husky.

“I was actually thinking about that other day … I knew it, but I didn’t really realize it, so it was just exciting to finally [be] healthy [for a Notre Dame game] … Having to sit on the bench every year sucks no matter what game you’re watching,” Fudd told reporters. “But … this is a fun game, a big match-up — so having to watch every year, it was exciting for me to be a part of it.”

Just narrowly trailing Sarah Strong’s 18 points, Fudd (15 points) was UConn’s second-highest scorer despite going an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 from behind the arc. She pivoted quickly, going for midrange jumpers and dishing the ball to teammates like Ashlynn Shade and Kayleigh Heckel who connected on two 3-pointers apiece. UConn also drove more aggressively to the basket, scoring 44 of its 85 points in the paint.

“I think that’s something that is super unique about our team, is that you really can’t take one thing away from us,” Fudd said. “Our three point shot isn’t falling, we can score at the other two levels. Like, you take me away, you have the rest of the team that can score. … Our team is so versatile.”

“So I think playing a game like this and having that experience [where] the three is not falling but we’re getting buckets any other way we want … is really good for us.”

UConn only had two players, Strong and Fudd, play over 30 minutes in the game. On the other hand, four of Notre Dame’s starters played over 30 minutes. The Huskies outscored the Irish 19-6 in bench points and were able to maintain an intense man-to-man defense while the Irish switched to zone at certain points to preserve their more limited personnel.

“I talked to Niele about this before the game, you know, they’re in a tough spot,” Auriemma said. “They lost a lot of really, really, really, really good offensive players, and they’re limited benchwise. … We’ve been there. So there’s an awful lot put on [Hidalgo]’s shoulders, more so than previous two years that she’s been here. So we tried to take advantage of that and make sure that she had to do a lot more than just what she normally does for them.”

UConn succeeded in regaining control of its rivalry series with Notre Dame with its overwhelming defense and superior depth. With the page now turned on this regular season’s chapter of the rivalry, and with just six weeks remaining before the postseason, the Huskies hope that same defense and depth will carry them all the way to their ultimate goal — a 13th national title in Phoenix.