Sarah Strong scored 21 points and Blanca Quinonez added 20 off the bench as top-seeded UConn handled its business with a 70-52 in over No. 6-seed Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon in an NCAA Tournament Regional 1 final at Fort Worth, Texas.
UConn (38-0), the defending national champion, won its 54th consecutive game and advanced to the Women’s Final Four on Friday in Phoenix where it will play either South Carolina or TCU.
The Huskies earned an 85-47 victory over Notre Dame at home on Jan. 19 but this game was more competitive as the stakes were much higher.
UConn took its first lead at 5-6 with 4:45 remaining the first quarter and slowly wore down Notre Dame, going up 20-11 after one quarter and 32-25 at halftime.
After a Fighting Irish rally midway through the third period, the Huskies led 47-36 heading into the forth. Quinonez’s 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining in the game increased the Huskies’ lead to 63-44 and UConn cruised to the finish.
Azzi Fudd added 13 points for the Huskies, while Quinonez had a team-high eight rebounds. UConn scored 19 points off 18 Notre Dame turnovers and had a 35-29 rebounding advantage.
Hannah Hidalgo led Notre Dame (25-11) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Vanessa de Jesus had eight points with five rebounds.
Fudd’s steal and assist to Quinonez produced a layup on the final possession of the first quarter and sent the Huskies to their 20-11 lead.
Notre Dame reeled off an 11-4 spurt that started late in the first quarter and was punctuated by a 3-pointer by Hidalgo that trimmed UConn’s advantage to 24-20. The Huskies responded with three straight baskets to lead 30-20 after Strong canned a jumper at the 2:34 mark before settling into a seven-point halftime advantage.
Quinonez has season-high 14 points before halftime to lead all scorers and was the only player from either team in double figures. Hidalgo paced the Fighting Irish with nine points in the first half.
Strong’s layup on the break with 8:43 to play in the third period gave UConn a 38-26 lead before the Fighting Irish clamped down, holding the Huskies scoreless for nearly five minutes. But Notre Dame only scored four points over the stretch.
–Field Level Media
