No. 7 Notre Dame completed the upset of No. 3 UConn with a 74-60 win in the Jimmy V Women's Classic after a big first half and stellar defensive performance.
For UConn, it was their fourth ranked game of the season, but first on the road as The Irish hand the Huskies their first loss of the year.
The Fighting Irish (7-1) took a 17-point lead into halftime, thanks in large part to an explosive 23-point second quarter and 15 first half points from Olivia Miles, who finished with a team-high 21 points on 10-for-18 shooting and eight rebounds. Maddy Westbeld was efficient from beyond the arc for Notre Dame, shooting 3-for-5 from range as she finished with 17 points and nine boards.
Olivia Miles is COOKING in the first half! 👩🍳
— ACC Women's Basketball (@accwbb) December 4, 2022
15 pts (7-8 FG), 3 ast, 3 reb@ndwbb | #ACCWBB
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/GgIABnCxAL
FINAL STATS: Click or tap here to view the full stats from Notre Dame's win
For UConn (6-1), they were largely with out star Azzi Fudd, who sustained a knee injury in the first quarter. She briefly returned in the first half, but remained on the bench for the entire second half. Notre Dame also had every answer for Fudd, while she was in the game, throwing different defenders at her and keeping her scoreless.
Lou Lopez-Senechal stepped up for the Huskies with 21 points.
Although Miles' efforts propelled Notre Dame's offense, the team's defensive game plan for the Huskies was one of the biggest keys to the victory. The Irish held UConn to just 36.8 percent from the field, well below their 54 percent average entering the game.
