No. 8 Notre Dame handed No. 2 UConn its first loss of the season with a 79-68 victory on Thursday. Hannah Hidalgo lifted her team to victory while flirting with a triple-double.
Notre Dame’s sophomore star put up 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while leading the Fighting Irish to their third win against a top-five opponent this season. All other Division I women basketball teams are a combined 3-41 against top-five opponents.
Ahead of the game, Hidalgo was recognized at Purcell Pavilion for being the fastest player to reach 1,000 career points in Notre Dame history. This was going to be her night, and she showed it in the first two quarters with 17 points.
The Irish took control in the first half and entered the break with an 11-point lead. However, the Huskies started to climb back, and it was going to be a one-point game at the end of the third quarter. But then Hidalgo stole UConn’s momentum with a 3-pointer as the clock was running out to give Notre Dame a 56-52 advantage to enter the fourth.
Notre Dame once again found a double-digit lead while it took almost three minutes for the Huskies to score. A layup by UConn star Paige Bueckers made a six-point game with three minutes remaining, but her team never truly got back in the game.
Here are some takeaways from UConn’s first loss of the season:
Bueckers needs more help
The Huskies were missing Azzi Fudd, who is considered day-to-day after suffering a minor knee sprain against Louisville last week. She has been the Huskies’ third-leading scorer this season behind Bueckers and Sarah Strong, so her absence was especially unfortunate against Notre Dame.
Bueckers scored 25 points while going 11 of 20 from the field despite a solid defensive effort by Sonia Citron.
Strong contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, and could have potentially done more for the team but struggled with foul trouble. That was the perfect opportunity for another UConn player to go off, but that didn’t happen.
“I think for us going forward, we need more contributions from more people,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after the game.
Notre Dame’s physical defense does deserve a lot of credit. The Irish knew how to rush the Huskies on offense so they couldn’t find great shots. Overall, UConn’s offense had lots of stagnant moments and just wasn’t moving well enough. The Huskies finished the night with only 10 assists.
UConn allowed Notre Dame to go 10 for 18 from beyond the arc, with six of those 3-pointers belonging to Hidalgo. Perhaps Fudd’s perimeter defense could have helped, but the Huskies also couldn’t score from 3-point range — going just 3 of 16.
“I would say there’s two concerns,” Auriemma said. “One, we weren’t able to get enough of them, and that we didn’t make enough of them.”
Kaitlyn Chen made one 3-pointer, while Strong made two but on seven attempts. Bueckers went 0 for 4 from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame’s backcourt keeps turning heads
UConn has a lot to work on, but Notre Dame also deserves credit for its huge win. Hidalgo and Olivia Miles are possibly the best backcourt in the country, and they even got a shoutout from NBA star Ja Morant on Thursday.
Miles seemed to have tweaked her ankle in the first quarter, but she shook it off and finished the game with 16 points on 6 of 9 from the field, including two 3-pointers. Nine of her points came during the last 10 minutes of the game.
“I don’t know if there is a better combination of guards than those two with all the things they can hurt you with,” Auriemma said.
Forward Liatu King was another big contributor for Notre Dame with 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Huskies.
