Photo gallery from the #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs #1 UConn Huskies women's basketball game at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT on December 5, 2015. UConn Huskies Basketball; Video: DePaul Game Helped UConn Women Prepare For Notre Dame and Beyond. By Ian Bethune @Ian_Bethune on Dec 4, 2015, 9:02p +.
No. 3 Notre Dame Vs. No. 1 UConn? A Full House? It's Party Time In Storrs. STORRS — It's not a game as much as an event.
And it's certainly not an event as much as a parade for a sport that wishes it had more big events during the regular season. On Saturday at sold- out Gampel Pavilion, likely amid a sea of white shirts the athletic department has asked for, the gift women's basketball now loves most — Notre Dame vs. UConn — will be unwrapped again."It's something that we maybe used to take for granted back in the day," Coach Geno Auriemma said. Every game was a sellout. Right now, I think Notre Dame, whether it's November, December, February, March or April, is a big game. But the only time it means anything, in the big scheme of things, is April or March, if you get them early in the tournament. At any other time, it feels like a dress rehearsal."For the past two seasons, the Irish and Huskies have ended the season in the national championship game.
With Notre Dame and UConn ready to butt heads again, a look back at some classic women's hoop moments. KEEP AN EYE ON • Making their point: The matchup between point guards Moriah Jefferson of UConn and Lindsay Allen of Notre Dame could be worth the price of admission. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.
UConn has won both. This year, the game comes at the start of a season the Irish hope ends differently, especially for an opponent yearning for a record fourth straight national championship. UConn has won the last four meetings."It's always super exciting for us to play Notre Dame around here," Kia Nurse said. Any time we get to play home in front of a great crowd and fun atmosphere, it's a good time."This battle of unbeatens — the No. Irish are 7- 0, the No. Huskies are 5- 0 — comes at a bad time for Notre Dame.
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Earlier this week, coach Muffet Mc. Graw announced sophomore forward Brianna Turner would be out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.
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'It's something that we maybe used to take for granted back in the day,' Coach Geno Auriemma said. 'Every game was a sellout. Right now, I think Notre Dame, whether. IF THIS WERE a conversation about basketball, it would be no surprise that a Temple game against Connecticut could be more significant than one with Notre. The University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site, partner of CBS College Sports Networks, Inc. The most comprehensive coverage of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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Turner, the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason player of the year, was averaging 1. The Irish would like to save last season's national field goal percentage leader (6. Think about what it would be like for UConn without Breanna Stewart, who scored 2. De. Paul on Wednesday."Every game is fun to play," Stewart said. But this one is going to be exciting because of the sellout and the whiteout [the white shirts]."But that's not all. Notre Dame's highly touted freshman Ali Patberg is out with an ACL injury. And junior Taya Reimer, another front- court mainstay, hasn't played in two of the last three games (including Ohio State) while battling a sore Achilles.
Her availability will not be determined until just before the game."Taya was cleared to play and she is allowed to play up to her pain tolerance. We are going to have to manage that and see how her soreness is," Mc.
Graw told reporters Wednesday. With Brianna, we are deciding whether to have surgery right away or to play in a brace. That is what they are discussing right now. We will probably think about it for 2.
She can't play for the next week, so we'll have some time to think it over."Before the season began, Mc. Graw said she expected her team would be reliant on post play."I think we will be post- orientated. That is a little bit of [a] change for us because we've had such great guards over the years [Skylar Diggins, Kayla Mc. Bride and Jewell Loyd]," Mc. Graw said. "Now we have really good guards who can shoot the ball and do a lot of things. But I think our posts are the best part of our game.
We are expecting big things from Brianna, Taya and Kathryn [Westbeld]."Still, the Irish have been able to hold serve so far, including consecutive wins over UCLA and Ohio State in the past week."We beat UCLA and Ohio State without our post players. That bodes well for this team," Mc. Graw said. With her posts out, Mc. Graw turned to guard Hannah Huffman to start and she produced a career- high nine rebounds. Graduate student Madison Cable scored a career- high 2. Notre Dame over Ohio State. She also led the Irish with 1.
The Huskies are coming off a fabulously contested 8. De. Paul on Wednesday in Chicago. The Blue Demons, ranked No. Huskies. Auriemma was happy his players were reminded about the importance of every possession in the tight game and ultimately prevailed, especially freshman Katie Lou Samuelson, who scored all her 1. The plays our guys made in the fourth. It helped them grow," Auriemma said.
As much as it was challenging physically, it was more so a mental challenge.".
Video: De. Paul Game Helped UConn Women Prepare For Notre Dame and Beyond. De. Paul head coach Doug Bruno employed a unique game plan that made the UConn women face the unseen and unexpected. UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma and De. Paul head coach Doug Bruno have been friends for a long time.
But in the time the duo has been friends, Auriemma had never seen anything like the game plan Bruno employed Wednesday night. During the 8. 6- 7. UConn, Bruno had his team triple- team the ball- handler often, and he utilized a hockey- type substitution pattern, where he changed all five players on the court. It looked to rattle the Huskies a bit, but they kept their composure and figured things out. Playing such a close game will only help the Huskies in the end.
It also helps them prepare for the unknown. With Notre Dame coming to Gampel Pavilion Saturday, it gets the Huskies ready for what should be another close game and how Notre Dame will play without Brianna Turner, who is out with an injured shoulder. After practice Friday afternoon, Auriemma, along with senior All- Americans Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson, talked about De. Paul's unique game plan and how it helps UConn down the line.