No. 7 Notre Dame hands No. 3 UConn first loss
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — For the first time since 2013, the UConn women’s basketball team lost at Notre Dame.
In front of a packed Purcell Pavilion decked out in Irish green, the No. 3ranked Huskies fell to No. 7 Notre Dame 74-60 on Sunday for their first loss of the year.
Notre Dame’s win marked its first over UConn since the 2019 Final Four on
April 5 in Tampa (Notre Dame won 81-76). This is the program’s first win over the Huskies in the Niele Ivey era as the Irish are now 14-39 all-time against the Huskies. Fairfield grad transfer Lou Lopez Sénéchal led UConn with 21 points followed by Aaliyah Edwards with 14 points. Aubrey Griffin added six boards
and Nika Mühl finished with five assists to end her streak of four straight games with double-figure assists.
UConn star sophomore Azzi Fudd did not play in the second half after suffering an apparent knee injury in the first quarter. She remained in uniform and available on the bench throughout the third and fourth quarters.
Notre Dame was led by Olivia Miles with 21 points. The Irish outrebounded UConn 39-26 and outscored the Huskies in the paint, 46-16.
UConn (6-1, 1-0 Big East) missed 10 of its first 12 shots to start the game. After two straight 3-pointers from Mühl, the Huskies went over three and a half minutes without making a shot. Rebounds were missed repeatedly on either end by the Huskies as they struggled against Notre Dame’s frontcourt.
Miles took over in the frame’s final minutes and scored 13 of her team’s 18 first-quarter points.
Back-to-back turnovers from the Huskies allowed Notre Dame (7-1, 0-0 ACC) to go on a 7-0 run to take the lead going into the second quarter.
It didn’t help the Huskies that Fudd had to leave the court in the last 30 seconds of the first quarter after colliding with Edwards. Fudd was immediately looked at by a trainer
on the bench before exiting the court and heading into the locker room.
Fudd wasn’t on the bench to start the second quarter. She returned a few minutes into the quarter and remained in uniform without ice or a brace. ESPN reported that Fudd was examined by team trainers and deemed OK to return. She checked back into the game at the 6:52 mark but only played for a little over three minutes before she checked back out.
Without Fudd, UConn’s offense fell apart. Passes went anywhere but their targeted teammates. UConn was held scoreless for nearly three and a half minutes during which it suffered three straight turnovers.
Lopez Sénéchal made two of UConn’s three made field goals out of 11 attempts in the frame. The other was Edwards’ first 3-pointer of the year.
UConn shot 27.6 percent from the floor in the first half, while Notre Dame capitalized on the momentum shift and shot 65.4 percent. The Irish led on the boards 21-11 and in the paint 22-4 at intermission. Per ESPN, UConn’s 24 points at halftime (Notre Dame led by 17) are the program’s third-fewest in a first half since the 2017-18 season.
Fudd didn’t start the second half and didn’t play at all during the third quarter. UConn coach Geno Auriemma told ESPN during halftime that
Fudd was going to give it another go but didn’t know how much she’d play in the second half.
The Huskies showed signs of life to start the third quarter. Edwards sparked a 13-3 run for UConn halfway through to force Notre Dame to call timeout.
Notre Dame struggled to keep its momentum. The Irish had four turnovers within two minutes before Miles was called for an intentional foul after smacking Mühl in the face with her elbow at the 3:44 mark. Lopez Sénéchal made both of UConn’s awarded free throws to get UConn within five of the Irish.
The Irish responded with a 6-0 run to end the third ahead by 12. Notre Dame started the fourth with another 6-0 run to get ahead by 16 and close out the remainder of Sunday’s game on top.
Graduate forward Dorka Juhász did not play against the Irish. The game marked her fifth game unavailable as she continues to rehab a broken left thumb. On Friday, Auriemma said Juhász has resumed basketball workouts in practice.
UConn will return to Storrs this week to host former Husky Carla Berube and her Princeton squad on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.