No. 3 NOTRE DAME at No. 1 UCONN

When: Sunday, 4 p.m.

Where: XL Center, Hartford

Records: Notre Dame 7-0; UConn 6-0

TV: ESPN

Radio: WTIC-1080; WELI-960

Internet: ESPN3

KEEP AN EYE ON

Sophomores stepping up: Coming out of high school, Notre Dame’s Jackie Young was named the Naismith National High School Player of the Year, while UConn’s Crystal Dangerfield won the Morgan Wootten Award as the national player of the year presented by the organizers of the McDonald’s AllAmerican Game. Both showed flashes of brilliance during inconsistent freshman seasons. As sophomores, they have emerged as invaluable cogs for two of the nation’s best teams. Young has gone from averaging 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds as a freshman to contributing 17.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Dangerfield’s numbers have jumped from 6.1 points and 3.7 assists to 14 points and 5.2 assists per contest.

• Familiar faces: This will be the first time that Notre Dame guard Lili Thompson and UConn forward/center Azurá Stevens will take the court in a UConn-Notre Dame matchup. However, it is not the first time Thompson squared off against UConn or Stevens has fought the good fight against Notre Dame. Thompson had a game-high 24 points for Stanford in 2014 when the Cardinal stunned UConn 88-86 in overtime. It was the last time the Huskies lost a regular-season game. Thompson, who joined Notre Dame as a graduate transfer, is only shooting 35 percent and averaging 5.7 points per game, but she leads Notre Dame with 36 assists. Stevens faced Notre Dame four times in her two seasons at Duke. She averaged 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers are similar to what she is posting in her first six games with the Huskies.

• Making the grade: This will be the ninth straight meeting with both UConn and Notre Dame ranked in the top three in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. UConn is 9-1 in its last 10 games facing the Fighting Irish as the top-ranked team in the country.

• Changing things up: Notre Dame typically can light it up from the perimeter, but the Fighting Irish are doing things a little differently this season. Notre Dame ranked 317th out of 345 Division I teams with an average of 3.9 3-pointers per game. Notre Dame is averaging its fewest 3-pointers per game since the 2010-11 season and its 30.7 percent mark from 3point range is the lowest since the 2007-08 campaign.

• Giving back: UConn will be collecting donations for a Toys for Tots drive. Fans can bring a new, unwrapped toy to the main entrance of the XL Center where they will be collected as part of the drive.