FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) 鈥� All-America forward Sarah Strong and her UConn teammates got quite a compliment from Geno Auriemma, their coach who donned a cowboy hat and did a little dance on the court after the undefeated Huskies made their 25th Final Four in the .
The 12-time championship coach who has more wins than any men’s or women’s NCAA coach said he has never been more proud of a group that he has taken to the final weekend of March Madness.
鈥淭his group, they don鈥檛 have that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality,鈥� Auriemma said after his 1,288th victory. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the kind of team that I鈥檝e had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It鈥檚 not. They don鈥檛 have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court. They鈥檙e just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.鈥�
And they are headed to Phoenix after Strong scored 21 points, Blanca Qui帽onez added 20 points off the bench and the defending national champion Huskies beat Notre Dame 70-52 on Sunday.
While this is a younger group for Auriemma after Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 WNBA draft pick, and Kaitlyn Chen were seniors on last year’s championship team, UConn (38-0) has and clinched the first spot for this year’s Final Four.
鈥淪eeing him excited and kind of goofy is really good for us. … He鈥檚 usually all serious or like anxious, grumpy. Just seeing him let loose and be his true self was really good,” Strong said.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 say anything he doesn鈥檛 mean. He doesn鈥檛 give out compliments too often, depending on who you are,鈥� said All-America guard Azzi Fudd, the fifth-year senior on this squad who had 13 points, four assists and three steals. 鈥淪o to hear him say that it does mean a lot, and we feel the same way. We love this team so much.鈥�
Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (25-11), plus three more steals to increase her NCAA single-season record to 202 and single NCAA tourney mark to 29. But she also had five turnovers, the first time in her 10 NCAA tourney games with more turnovers than steals.
This meeting for the Final Four
The ninth NCAA tourney meeting between the Huskies and the Irish was their . They had both made it that far the first eight times they met in March Madness, the last in 2019 when Notre Dame won a semifinal game over UConn and then lost to Baylor in the title game.
This meeting in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final was the first time Notre Dame had made it past the Sweet 16 since then.
While the game was closer than January 19 when in the most-lopsided game in the 57-game series (UConn leads 41-16), the Irish couldn鈥檛 overcome the rolling Huskies.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very, very physical. They try to take away every option that you have,鈥� Irish coach Niele Ivey said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e very disciplined. They play well together, and they just play hard.鈥�
Missing and staying ahead
During a nearly five-minute stretch in the third quarter when UConn went scoreless while missing 11 consecutive shots, the Irish got no closer than eight points. Hidalgo had a jumper and two free throws for their only points, but also was responsible for three of their four turnovers in that span.
That included Fudd鈥檚 steal from Hidalgo and Jana El Alfy鈥檚 layup that ended the scoring drought and put the Huskies up 40-30 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
UConn took its first double-digit lead with six points in a 59-second span in the second quarter, soon after Hidalgo furiously responded when she thought she was fouled on a 3-point attempt that was instead a blocked shot by Strong.
That led to a driving layup by Qui帽onez, who followed by rebounding a miss by Hidalgo and assisting on a breaking layup by Allie Ziebell. Qui帽onez, the Big East freshman and sixth player of the year, than had a steal that led to a pullup jumper by Fudd for a 30-20 lead with 2:56 left in the first half.
鈥淎s always, I just try to bring something to the court, impact the game, as coach says,鈥� Qui帽onez said. 鈥淎nd I think everyone was locked in and I think everybody was ready to play that game.鈥�
Up next
UConn will play its national semifinal game Friday against , who play in the Sacramento Regional 4 final on Monday night. The 82-59 in last year’s national championship game.
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