NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Women’s basketball came away a
winner Sunday night. After a season-long buildup, the NCAA tournament
will be decided by the perfect championship game.
The undefeated
titans of the sport this season will meet Tuesday night in an historic
championship game when UConn plays Notre Dame. It will mark the first
time in NCAA basketball history that unbeaten teams will play for a
title when the former Big East rivals face each other.
"It is
pretty amazing," Irish coach Muffet McGraw told The Associated Press
after her team beat Maryland 87-61. "So many of the media and fans have
been looking at this all season long. It’s great that we’ve made it this
far.
"Both of us remaining undefeated. See who the best team is."
Said
UConn guard From Moriah Jefferson: "Now we can finally talk about it.
That has been the talk of this whole tournament and I guess it is
finally here."
The teams didn’t play during the regular season
this year for the first time since 1995 as Notre Dame moved to the ACC.
That helped set up the championship showdown that will put the sport in
the spotlight.
"It looked to me like as the season went on it
almost looked like it was inevitable to happen," UConn coach Geno
Auriemma said. "It was supposed to happen. Our sport doesn’t have enough
significant moments. … To have the spotlight on Tuesday on two teams
that one is going to lose for the first time this year, it’s pretty
remarkable when you think how hard it’s to do for one team much less
two."
Notre Dame (37-0) is one of the rare teams that has had
success against the Huskies in recent history, winning seven of the past
nine meetings, including beating UConn twice in the national
semifinals. McGraw drew attention to that fact during the tournament
selection show.
The Huskies (39-0) won the last one though,
topping Notre Dame in the Final Four last season en route to the
school’s eighth national championship. A UConn victory Tuesday night
will be a record ninth for Auriemma, breaking a tie with Pat Summitt for
most all-time in the women’s game. It will also cap the fifth perfect
season for the Huskies and make them only the second team ever to go
40-0, joining Baylor which did it two seasons ago.
Auriemma has never lost a championship game.
Notre
Dame will be trying for its second national championship. The Irish
have had chances lately to win their first title since 2001, advancing
to the national semifinals in four straight seasons. They lost in the
championship game twice during that span.
They advanced to Tuesday
night’s game with a convincing 87-61 victory over Maryland behind 28
points from senior All-American Kayla McBride.
Notre Dame played without senior Natalie Achonwa, who suffered a torn ACL in the regional final victory
over Baylor.
Even
without their star forward, the Irish dominated the Terrapins on the
boards, outrebounding them in record fashion. Notre Dame had a 50-21
rebounding advantage, including a 19-4 mark on the offensive end. It was
the widest rebounding margin ever in a Final Four game, shattering the
previous mark of 19 set by Louisiana Tech in 1989. Maryland broke the
national semifinals record for fewest rebounds in a game of 25 set by
Minnesota in 2004.
They’ll need a similar effort against UConn and its imposing front line of Breanna Stewart and Stefanie
Dolson.
The
Huskies got off to a sluggish start against Stanford before taking
control in the second half in a 75-56 victory. They probably can’t
afford the same thing to happen for a fourth straight game if they hope
to win that record title.
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