STORRS — UConn-Notre Dame has been the stage for countless classics through the years, including the past two Final Fours, making it the best rivalry in women’s college basketball.
Sunday’s rematch in Storrs quickly became one of the few laughers.
Fourth-ranked UConn dialed up the intensity on Notre Dame, stringing together a wire-to-wire 81-57 victory before a sellout crowd at Gampel Pavilion.
“In our locker room, we talked about how we have to come out and put them away early and put them away big,” point guard Crystal Dangerfield said.
Said coach Geno Auriemma: “We wanted to speed the game up.”
The Huskies certainly did that, sprinting out to a 12-2 lead within a matter of minutes. The Fighting Irish, young and lacking a No. 1 scorer, missed their first seven shots. In this, the 51st edition of the rivalry, the Huskies led by 16 after one quarter and 27 after two, along the way to one of their most lopsided victories over the Fighting Irish.
Megan Walker paced UConn with 26 points and 13 rebounds, Olivia Nelson-Ododa contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Dangerfield — back at point guard after missing the previous two games with back spasms — added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“That’s something we kind of expect from her now,” Dangerfield said of Walker. “There were times, maybe last year, where we weren’t sure what we were going to get. Now, anytime she’s out there, you expect a double-double from her.”
The Huskies had stars. The Fighting Irish didn’t. In addition to Jackie Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, the Fighting Irish have been left to replace the No. 5 (Arike Ogunbowale), No. 11 (Brianna Turner), No. 16 (Jessica Shepard) and No. 19 (Marina Mabrey) picks. They also had two players transfer and are without a pair because of health injuries. In all, they’re missing 3,384 points — 98 percent — of last year’s offense.
Connecticut’s Kyla Irwin (25) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (20) celebrate in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Notre Dame, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Storrs, Conn.
UConn women roll past rival Notre Dame
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But that didn’t change UConn’s mindset heading into the game.
“You’re playing Notre Dame, so it’s not like you need any extra motivation or any pep talks,” Auriemma said. “It is what it is. A lot of times when you play Notre Dame, you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to keep them from scoring 100.”
This time, the Huskies had no such problems. Anaya Peoples led Notre Dame with 17 points. Katlyn Gilbert scored 15 and Sam Brunelle had 14 points. The loss dropped Notre Dame to 5-6 — under .500 for the first time 16 years. UConn, which led by as many as 34, improved to 8-0.
“I think we can definitely get better. I think we can get a lot better,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. “We just have to figure out how we’re going to score.”
UConn opened the third with seven straight points to build its largest lead of the day. The Huskies were pushing the borders of their biggest win against Notre Dame — 80-53 on Jan. 21, 2002 in Hartford — but the Fighting Irish outscored them 18-12 in the fourth.
UConn now has a week off before its visit to DePaul on Dec. 16.
In the building: Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2021, was in attendance, along with the No. 41 prospect in that year’s class, Caroline Ducharme, and commits Paige Bueckers (No. 1 in 2020) and Amari DeBerry (No. 5 in 2021). Fudd and Ducharme remain undecided on schools.