When Notre Dame and UConn battled in women’s basketball in January, the Huskies thumped the Irish 85-47.

In the rematch, Niele Ivey’s Irish refused to go down without a fight but it wasn’t enough as #1 UConn defeated #6 Notre Dame 70-52 in the women’s basketball Elite 8 on Fort Worth, TX Sunday.

ND’s season ends at 25-11 as they reached the Elite 8 for the first time since 2019.

UConn improves to 38-0 as they advance to the Final Four for the 25th time in program history. The Huskies were led by Sarah Strong who scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and stole it five times. Blanca Quinonez scored 20 and Azzi Fudd added 13.

Junior Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to lead the Irish. No other Notre Dame player reached double figures.

Hidalgo did not score in the 1st quarter as the Huskies jumped out to a 20-11 lead. Hidalgo scored nine straight points for Notre Dame in the 2nd quarter as the Irish pulled within four. The Huskies pushed the lead to 7 at halftime and 11 after the 3rd before pulling away in the 4th.

Hidalgo set the ACC record record for points in a season with 909 and became the only player in NCAA history to record over 200 steals in a season (202).