In a highly anticipated matchup at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana, the UConn women's basketball team faced yet another setback as they suffered their third consecutive loss to longtime rival Notre Dame. The Huskies, known for their dominance in the sport, found themselves on the losing end with a 79-68 score on Thursday night. This marked the first time in over a decade that UConn had dropped three straight games to the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo: A Standout Performer

Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo once again showcased her elite skills against UConn. She finished with a team-high 29 points, along with 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Hidalgo's shooting prowess was on full display as she made 6 out of 11 3-point attempts and was perfect from the free throw line, hitting all seven attempts. Her double-double performance in the 2023-24 win over the Huskies in Storrs added to her reputation as a formidable player. As UConn coach Geno Auriemma pointed out, "Her talent is obvious. Even if you're not a basketball person, you can tell that the talent level that she has is pretty unique. But I think more important is the way she attacks everything she does. The way she attacks your defense and then when she's on defense she attacks your offense, the way that she leads her team in so many different ways. I think you put all of those three things together, and it's just a really, really, really difficult matchup."

UConn's Starters and Their Performances

UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tried her best to keep the team in the game with 25 points, shooting 11 for 20 from the field. She also added three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Freshman Sarah Strong led the team on the boards with seven rebounds and contributed 14 points, making two of UConn's three 3-pointers in the entire game. However, the Huskies were ultimately doomed by an abysmal shooting performance from beyond the arc. Bueckers went 0 for 4, and the team finished hitting just 18.8% compared to Notre Dame's 10 for 18.In the first half, UConn looked out of sorts despite a close opening quarter. They struggled to find their usual offensive rhythm and ball movement. Entering the game shooting nearly 35% from 3-point range, they began 0 for 7 against the Irish and had just three assists on 14 made field goals before halftime. Despite forcing six turnovers on five steals, they managed only four points off turnovers compared to Notre Dame's seven.The Irish quickly established dominance from 3-point range despite a mediocre shooting performance from the field. UConn took a brief lead of 10-9 late in the first quarter, but Hidalgo hit back-to-back 3-pointers to reopen a two-possession lead for Notre Dame. In the second quarter, Hidalgo stayed hot, entering halftime with 17 points on 4 for 6 shooting from beyond the arc. The Irish hit 66.7% from 3-point range to balance a 41.7% performance from the field, and UConn couldn't close the gap even after out-scoring Notre Dame 18-6 in the paint.Bueckers found her stride in the second quarter with 10 points while shooting 71%, but sophomore KK Arnold was the only other UConn player to make more than one field goal in the quarter. The Huskies were also out-rebounded 25-16 in the first half and allowed 11 second-chance points to the Irish.Strong finally sank the first 3-pointer for UConn early in the third quarter, and the Huskies began to slowly chip away at Notre Dame's lead. They got within two points behind a 6-0 run with under three minutes left in the third, kicked off by a pull-up jumper from Bueckers off a textbook screen from Strong. Strong played the entire second half with three fouls after picking up her third early in the second quarter and spent more minutes on the floor than anyone except Bueckers.Bueckers then grabbed a steal and dished an assist to Strong for a layup, and Arnold added a jumper to force an Irish timeout. Bueckers and Arnold hit another pair of layups in the final seconds to cut the Irish's lead to a single point, but Hidalgo drained her sixth 3-pointer of the game at the buzzer to keep the Irish ahead by two scores.

Notre Dame's Late Surge and UConn's Struggles

After Hidalgo's buzzer-beater, UConn couldn't find any momentum. Notre Dame opened up a double-digit lead less than three minutes into the fourth quarter. The Huskies gave up two steals in as many minutes, both of which resulted in points for the Irish. Notre Dame star Olivia Miles, who played just 27 minutes after injuring her ankle in the first quarter, still managed to log nine points in the fourth quarter alone to finish with 16 points on 6 for 9 shooting.As UConn coach Geno Auriemma noted, "Each game you take away something that you can use in your next game plan, but every game is different, too. So there's a couple things that we have to go back and address that are certainly within our control. Some of it is youth. Some of it is just undisciplined. Some of it is carelessness, so we have to, we have to do a better job with that as coaching staff and as players... And you know, we could have very easily been down 25, and instead we cut it to two, so that that tells us something."