Three takeaways from UConn and Notre Dame’s Elite Eight clash at Dickies Arena
UConn and Notre Dame met in the Elite Eight with the Huskies looking to continue their title defense and Sarah Strong made sure they did just that.
Strong, the Big East Player of the Year, came up big in UConn’s 70-52 victory on Sunday at Dickies Arena, scoring 21 points with seven rebounds and five steals. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player of Fort Worth regional 1.
Head coach Geno Auriemma talked about his pride in this team and what they’ve accomplished.
“Every day somebody is coming after you to break your streak or to, you know — you have to carry that we’re undefeated. So I’m really proud of the way they’ve handled all this and how they don’t let it bother them. They don’t get caught up in anything other than what do we have to do today?,” said Auriemma.
Here are three takeaways from the Elite Eight clash.
Big East Freshman of the Year’s big game
Besides Strong, Blanca Quiñonez, winner of the 2026 Big East Freshman and Sixth Woman of the Year awards, had another solid game.
She has scored in double digits in each game during March Madness and extended her streak with 14 points in the first half of Sunday’s game.
Quiñonez talked about how she got off to such a hot start.
“I just try to bring something to the court, impact the game, as Coach says. And I think everyone was locked in and I think everybody was ready to play that game. I just go there and just try to do the best for the team,” Quiñonez said.
In the third quarter, a Quiñonez assist to Jana El Alfy broke an over four-minute scoreless streak for the Huskies in the third quarter.
Quiñonez was lethal from behind the arc going 4 for 8 from 3-point range, equaling the number of makes by the entire Fighting Irish team.
Auriemma compared Quiñonez to previous players Svetlana Abrosimova, Diana Taurasi and Nika Mühl.
“They have one thing in common. Two words you’ll never hear come out of any of those people’s mouth, ‘you’re right.’ They are just so hard to coach, and at the same time they’re so rewarding. It’s such a rewarding feeling coaching them because you’re not kind of fighting with them,” Auriemma said. “You are kind of give and take, you know, tug-of-war, I want what I want from you, they want what they want from me, and it’s back and forth. We try to meet in the middle. The finished product usually is just an unbelievable competitor who have so much pride in themselves.”
Quiñonez finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Hannah Hidalgo follow-up performance
Notre Dame All-American Hannah Hidalgo had an historic near quadruple double in her team’s Sweet 16 win, how did she follow it up on Sunday?
It was a rougher start for Hidalgo, who missed her first four shots as the Fighting Irish offense similarly struggled, until powering through contact for her first basket.
Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey talked about the Huskies defense on Hidalgo and how the star guard fought through it.
“We knew they were going to be really physical with her. Like you mentioned, having fresh bodies on her. They iced her, they hedged her, they did a lot of different things,” Ivey said. “They were very physical with her. She’s used to having all that type of pressure. I thought they did a good job of, again, mixing it up and showing a lot of different defenses.”
Hidalgo seemed to settle in after the make, scoring 9 points in the second quarter after going scoreless in the first.
Hidalgo finished with 22 points with 11 rebounds and three assists.
Despite the loss, Ivey said she was proud of what her team had accomplished this season.
“I’m just beyond proud of my team. What we’ve accomplished this season, the growth from the beginning of the season — I talked about our first practice to where we are now — is what you want for a coach,” Ivey said.
Azzi Fudd looks to rebound
All-American Azzi Fudd struggled in UConn’s blowout win over UNC, and had a quiet first half versus the Fighting Irish with only four points and more turnovers (4) than assists (3), but despite her misfortune the Huskies still led at halftime.
Fudd was the first Husky to score after halftime, and got into a little bit of a scoring grove as the game went on finishing the game with 13 points, two rebounds and four assists.
UConn will play the winner of Monday’s Elite Eight game between TCU and South Carolina on Friday, April 3 at a time to be announced, at Mortgage Matchup Center in Sacramento.
This story was originally published March 29, 2026 at 2:43 PM.
