Notre Dame has already taken down three preseason All-Americans. The Fighting Irish beat Madison Booker’s Texas Longhorns, and toppled Kiki Iriafen and JuJu Watkins at USC. Notre Dame is electing to play the game on its hardest difficulty. The next level comes in the form of Paige Bueckers and second-ranked UConn.
No. 2 Connecticut at No. 8 Notre Dame
Venue: Purcell Pavilion — South Bend, Ind.
Time: 7 p.m. ET Thursday
TV: ESPN
Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
Thursday’s top-10 showdown should be starry, high-stakes stuff.
Of course, the 7-2 Fighting Irish have a Player of the Year candidate of their own. Hannah Hidalgo has somehow been even better than her First-Team All-American campaign last season. She’s putting up 24.6 points per game, and hitting the 3-ball at a 39.5 percent clip on high volume. Hidalgo also leads the ACC with 4.1 steals per game.
Senior guard Olivia Miles is also enjoying a stellar start to this season, leading the conference in assists per game while scoring more than 17 a night 63.5 effective shooting. Plus, fellow senior guard Sonia Citron is coming off dropping 25 points on just 15 shots to go with 11 rebounds in the Irish’s win over Syracuse on Sunday.
Niele Ivey’s group touts one of the most dangerous offenses in the sport. They are undefeated at home this year.
UConn is, of course, no ordinary opponent. Geno Auriemma’s team is sixth in offensive rating and sixth in scoring defense. Bueckers is a slight free throw bump away from a 50/40/90 season. Sarah Strong leads the Big East in field goal percentage and is making an absurd 74 percent of her 2-point tries.
The Huskies will be without Azzi Fudd, who also missed last year’s Notre Dame game, after she suffered a knee sprain in Saturday’s demolition of Louisville.
Aside from the pandemic-struck 2020-21 campaign, Notre Dame and UConn have faced off every year since 1995. Both teams enjoy deep rotations and routinely break 80 points. This could be one of the best games of the regular season.
Memorable matchup: On April 7, 2015, for the second time in as many years, the Huskies knocked off the Fighting Irish in the NCAA Championship Game. Moriah Jefferson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis each scored 15 for UConn, while Breanna Stewart had 15 rebounds and four blocks. Brianna Turner notched a double-double in defeat.
UConn at Notre Dame odds
More women’s hoops coverage
Women’s college basketball power rankings: Is Tennessee a legitimate threat?
Paige Bueckers becomes first NIL athlete to launch Nike player edition sneaker
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Connecticut Huskies, Women’s College Basketball, Sports Betting
2024 The Athletic Media Company
