Connecticut–Notre Dame women's basketball rivalry
| Sport | Women's basketball |
|---|---|
| First meeting |
January 18, 1996 Connecticut 87, Notre Dame 64 |
| Latest meeting |
December 5, 2015 Connecticut 91, Notre Dame 81 |
| Next meeting | December 7, 2016 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 45 |
| All-time series | Connecticut leads 34–11 |
| Largest victory | Connecticut, 80–53 (2002) |
| Longest win streak | Connecticut, 12 (2005–2011) |
| Current win streak | Connecticut, 5 (2013–present) |
The Connecticut–Notre Dame women's basketball rivalry is a college rivalry series between the UConn Huskies women's basketball team of the University of Connecticut and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team of the University of Notre Dame. The Huskies and Fighting Irish have met 45 times, including six times in the NCAA Tournament and twice in the NCAA Championship, with the Huskies holding a 34–11 advantage.
Background
The Connecticut Huskies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball teams are two of the more successful teams in women's collegiate basketball. The UConn Huskies have won eleven national championships,[1][2] while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have seven Final Four appearances,[3] with a National Championship in 2001. Both teams formerly played in the Big East Conference, and appeared in the title game of the Big East Tournament multiple times, with UConn appearing 23 times between 1989 and 2013, and Notre Dame appearing seven times in the same time period.
From April 2011 to March 2013, Notre Dame won seven out of its eight match-ups with UConn, the best performance of any team against UConn since Tennessee.[4] However, Notre Dame fell to UConn in the 2013 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament despite Notre Dame beating them three times during the regular season that year. Notre Dame hasn't beaten UConn since.
In 2014, UConn and Notre Dame both went into the national championship undefeated. This is the first time two undefeated teams went to the title game in men's and women's NCAA Division I basketball history. [5] This was also their first meeting in a championship game. UConn won that game handily. The next year, both teams made it to the title game again, where UConn won its tenth national championship and third national championship in a row. New York Times reporter Harvey Araton observed that in this "latest showdown between the premier women’s programs" there was an "absence of the mutual hostility" that had characterized the previous year's matchup.[1]
Game results
| Connecticut victories | Notre Dame victories |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score | Series | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC | ND | ||||||
| 1 | January 18, 1996 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 87 | 64 | Connecticut 1–0 | |
| 2 | February 24, 1996 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 86 | 79 | Connecticut 2–0 | |
| 3 | March 5, 1996 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 71 | 54 | Connecticut 3–0 | Big East Tournament |
| 4 | February 9, 1997 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 72 | 49 | Connecticut 4–0 | |
| 5 | March 4, 1997 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 86 | 77 | Connecticut 5–0 | Big East Tournament |
| 6 | December 6, 1997 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 78 | 59 | Connecticut 6–0 | |
| 7 | February 21, 1998 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 73 | 61 | Connecticut 7–0 | |
| 8 | March 2, 1998 | Piscataway, NJ | Connecticut | 73 | 53 | Connecticut 8–0 | Big East Tournament |
| 9 | December 8, 1998 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 106 | 81 | Connecticut 9–0 | |
| 10 | March 2, 1999 | Piscataway, NJ | Connecticut | 96 | 75 | Connecticut 10–0 | Big East Tournament |
| 11 | February 26, 2000 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 77 | 59 | Connecticut 11–0 | |
| 12 | January 15, 2001 | Notre Dame, IN | Notre Dame | 76 | 92 | Connecticut 11–1 | |
| 13 | March 6, 2001 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 78 | 76 | Connecticut 12–1 | Big East Tournament |
| 14 | March 30, 2001 | St. Louis, MO | Notre Dame | 75 | 90 | Connecticut 12–2 | NCAA Final Four |
| 15 | January 21, 2002 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 80 | 53 | Connecticut 13–2 | |
| 16 | January 20, 2003 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 72 | 53 | Connecticut 14–2 | |
| 17 | February 23, 2003 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 77 | 59 | Connecticut 15–2 | |
| 18 | January 13, 2004 | Notre Dame, IN | Notre Dame | 51 | 66 | Connecticut 15–3 | |
| 19 | January 12, 2005 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 67 | 50 | Connecticut 16–3 | |
| 20 | January 30, 2005 | Storrs, CT | Notre Dame | 59 | 65 | Connecticut 16–4 | |
| 21 | March 7, 2005 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 67 | 54 | Connecticut 17–4 | Big East Tournament |
| 22 | February 19, 2006 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 79 | 64 | Connecticut 18–4 | |
| 23 | March 5, 2006 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 71 | 60 | Connecticut 19–4 | Big East Tournament |
| 24 | January 27, 2007 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 64 | 47 | Connecticut 20–4 | |
| 25 | January 27, 2008 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 81 | 64 | Connecticut 21–4 | |
| 26 | February 22, 2009 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 76 | 66 | Connecticut 22–4 | |
| 27 | January 16, 2010 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 70 | 46 | Connecticut 23–4 | |
| 28 | March 1, 2010 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 76 | 51 | Connecticut 24–4 | |
| 29 | March 8, 2010 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 59 | 44 | Connecticut 25–4 | Big East Tournament |
| 30 | January 8, 2011 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 79 | 76 | Connecticut 26–4 | |
| 31 | February 19, 2011 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 78 | 57 | Connecticut 27–4 | |
| 32 | March 8, 2011 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 73 | 64 | Connecticut 28–4 | Big East Tournament |
| 33 | April 3, 2011 | Indianapolis, IN | Notre Dame | 63 | 72 | Connecticut 28–5 | NCAA Final Four |
| 34 | January 7, 2012 | Notre Dame, IN | Notre Dame | 67 | 74 | Connecticut 28–6 | |
| 35 | February 27, 2012 | Hartford, CT | Notre Dame | 59 | 72 | Connecticut 28–7 | |
| 36 | March 6, 2012 | Hartford, CT | Connecticut | 63 | 54 | Connecticut 29–7 | Big East Tournament |
| 37 | April 1, 2012 | Denver, CO | Notre Dame | 75 | 83 | Connecticut 29–8 | NCAA Final Four |
| 38 | January 5, 2013 | Storrs, CT | Notre Dame | 72 | 73 | Connecticut 29–9 | |
| 39 | March 4, 2013 | Notre Dame, IN | Notre Dame | 87 | 96 | Connecticut 29–10 | |
| 40 | March 12, 2013 | Hartford, CT | Notre Dame | 59 | 61 | Connecticut 29–11 | Big East Tournament |
| 41 | April 7, 2013 | New Orleans, LA | Connecticut | 83 | 65 | Connecticut 30–11 | NCAA Final Four |
| 42 | April 8, 2014 | Nashville, TN | Connecticut | 79 | 58 | Connecticut 31–11 | NCAA Championship Game |
| 43 | December 6, 2014 | Notre Dame, IN | Connecticut | 76 | 58 | Connecticut 32–11 | |
| 44 | April 7, 2015 | Tampa, FL | Connecticut | 63 | 53 | Connecticut 33–11 | NCAA Championship Game |
| 45 | December 5, 2015 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 91 | 81 | Connecticut 34–11 | Jimmy V Women's Classic |
References
- 1 2 Araton, Harvey (April 7, 2015). "UConn's Win Isn't Pretty, but Title Is a Perfect 10th for Geno Auriemma". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ↑ "UConn overcomes 12-point first half to squeeze past Stanford for second straight title". ESPN. April 6, 2010.
- ↑ "Women's Basketball Gameday Central – #9/7 Notre Dame vs. #1 Connecticut (NCAA Women's Final Four)". CBSSports.com. April 3, 2011.
- ↑ "UConn vs. Notre Dame: Rivalry brings attention to sport". Yahoo.com. April 7, 2015.
- ↑ "UConn, Notre Dame bring lots of history to title showdown". USA Today. April 7, 2014.
