Here’s a look back at Monday’s UConn-Notre Dame game:
TURNING POINT – The Huskies led 16-15 with 9:59 left in the first half. Notre Dame was collapsing on Tina Charles inside, and UConn needed someone to step up. Caroline Doty did by delivering a three-point play and two 3-pointers to key a 20-8 run to finish the first half. “She was great and it’s just what she needed,’’ Kalana Greene said.
UNSUNG HEROES – Doty and Tiffany Hayes. They combined for 24 points (9-of-17 FG), eight rebounds and three assists. Hayes had 13 points and six rebounds. Doty had 11 points and three assists. “Our guards played really well,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “And I knew going in that that was going to be a huge factor because Notre Dame’s not stupid. They were going to make it really hard for Tina. At one point I said during a timeout, `Hey, look, guys, Tina’s doing her job. She’s keeping three guys occupied. The rest of you guys are going to have to make some shots.’ And Caroline’s first half was incredible. And then Tiffany picked it up in the second half. They’re just getting better all the time. I’m looking to get some consistent play out of them.’’
BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ – The Huskies knew coming into the game that they were not going to apply a great deal of fullcourt pressure like they did in the first meeting Jan. 16 at Gampel Pavilion. Auriemma said the team is too tired and banged up right now. Instead, UConn relied on its halfcourt defense, both zone and man-to-man, to shut down Notre Dame.
The Irish shot just 31.1 percent from the field, including 29.0 percent in the second half. They were 4-of-14 from 3-point range. And the starters combined for only 20 points (6-of-34 FG; .176).
“I knew we were going to have to win it with our half-court defense and I have a lot of confidence in our halfcourt defense,’’ Auriemma said. “Once we made a concerted effort to keep the ball in front of us and not go for steals and gamble and let them get inside of us I thought that kind of changed everything. It stopped their rebounding. It stopped their dribble penetration. We didn’t foul. That’s kind of our philosophy on defense … Keep them in front of you. Make them shoot a jump shot with a hand up and put pressure on them with your offense.’’
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS – With Tina Charles passing Nykesha Sales to become UConn’s all-time leading scorer with 2,184 points, the orchestrated layup that gave the injured Sales the record at Villanova Feb. 24, 1998 can finally be put to rest for good. The infamous hoop actually popped into Auriemma’s head Monday. “It did enter my mind during the game, to be honest with you,’’ Auriemma said. “One of the few times that something like that has ever entered my mind. And, you know what, I wasn’t even thinking about who’s record she was going to break. I just knew she was breaking Rebecca Lobo’s rebounding record. But I didn’t even think about it. But now that I see some of the people asking me questions here, it reminds me about how (mad) I was when the whole Nykesha Sales thing (happened).’’ … Charles is the second player in team history to lead the Huskies in scoring and rebounding at the same time. Chris Gedney, who graduated in 1981, was the first with 1,409 points and 691 rebounds. … Angella Holgate, Charles’ mother, was seated in the first row behind the UConn bench on this special night. … The UCLA men’s basketball team saw its NCAA record 88-game winning streak ended at the Joyce Center Jan. 19, 1974. Auriemma told the Huskies about that game during shootaround Monday. “I said these guys have in their mind there’s a reputation of luck of the Irish,’’ Auriemma said. “That the Irish do great things on their home court against great teams. I said, `But it’s going to take a little more than luck of the Irish to beat us.’ I was a huge UCLA fan growing up. I probably loved UCLA more than any other team. I would’ve sat on UCLA’s bench for four years and not played a second rather than play anywhere else in the country. So I still hate Notre Dame for beating them.’’ … It was the sixth sell-out of the season for Notre Dame and its 12th all-time. “We love it,’’ Greene said. “We love having everyone against us. We’re the No. 1 team in the nation and you have Notre Dame talking about being the streak-enders. We see sellout crowds all the time and we love the idea that people are coming here thinking, `We’re going to see Connecticut lose tonight.’ That’s the time you depend on each other the most. You can’t count on anyone else. In this kind of atmosphere, we’re at our best.’’ … Auriemma was very clear that he has no plans to red-shirt any of the incoming freshmen next season. “We expect all of them to play,’’ Auriemma said. “The only question mark of the freshmen coming in is whether or not Michala is going to be 100 percent from her knee surgery. If she is, I don’t anticipate … Heck, that’s the one place we need players. If I was inclined to redshirt someone I’d be more inclined to do it with a guard rather than a post player. But we just don’t have the numbers. Those aren’t things I go into the season thinking about, they just evolve.’’ … Recently hired football coach Brian Kelly addressed the crowd at halftime.
LOOKING AHEAD – The Huskies (30-0) will not play again until the Big East tournament quarterfinals Sunday at the XL Center at 2 p.m. Auriemma gave them today and Wednesday off. They will have a light practice Thursday before getting back at it again in earnest Friday.
Auriemma said the team needs mental rest as much as anything right now.
“It’s going to be good,’’ Greene said. “It’s been a long, long season. It’s been a tough season. People don’t think that it’s been hard on our bodies, but it is because we practice more than we play and practices are hard. Very hard. This is time for us to regroup and get healthy. Just get mentally prepared for this part of the season because this is the most important part.’’
BY THE NUMBERS
4 – Made FGs in 23 attempts by Skylar Diggins vs. UConn
8.9 – Career rebounding average for Charles in 143 games
13 – Points needed by Maya Moore to hit 2,000
15.3 – Career scoring average for Charles
Rich
