When I saw the spread for this women’s basketball game between Notre Dame and UConn was sitting at a healthy 29.5 points, I couldn’t help but think of just how far this program has actually fallen. That line, maybe even more than the actual 38 point beating, was the cold shower to wake us all up from the dream of an elite Notre Dame Women’s Basketball program.
Ugh.
Irish Suffer Road Defeat At No. 1 UConn
STORRS, Conn. – The Fighting Irish dropped an 85-47 road defeat in Gampel Pavilion on Monday evening against the No. 1 UConn Huskies in Notre Dame’s final non-conference contest of the regular season. The loss drops Notre Dame’s record to 12-6 on the season.
Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish in scoring with 16 points while adding four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Cassandre Prosper also finished in double-figure scoring with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The top-ranked team flexed their muscles early, jumping out to an 11-1 advantage 6 minutes into the contest. The Irish offense then scored six of the next eight points to trim the score to 13-7 before the Huskies finished the quarter with the final three points to take a 16-7 lead into the second stanza.
Notre Dame and UConn played an even second quarter, both sides scoring 16 points to make it a 32-23 game at the halftime intermission. The Huskies led by as many as 14 before ending the quarter on a 7-2 run to make it a nine-point game.
Hidalgo scored 10 of the team’s 16 points in the period off 3-of-6 shooting.
The Huskies came out of the halftime break and took over the game, outscoring the Irish 27-6 over the first 8 minutes of the quarter to take a 59-29 lead. The Irish managed to score the final six points of the stanza to cut the lead to 59-35 as the contest headed into the final 10 minutes of action.
UConn finished the game by outscoring Notre Dame 26-16 in the final frame to come away with an 85-47 win.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish return to Purcell Pavilion to welcome Miami for a midweek ACC matchup at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 22. The game will air on ACCN.
