Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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absence of Achonwa, Connecticut re- peatedly went inside to 6-4 National Player of the Year Breanna Stewart and 6-5 All-American Stefanie Dolson. Stewart, who scored 29 points in the Final Four win over Notre Dame last year, was named the Most Outstand- ing Player a second straight year with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Dolson had 17 points (8 of 13 from the field) 16 re- bounds, seven assists and three blocks. The Irish were pounded 54-31 on the backboards against the Huskies, includ- ing a 22-9 advantage in offensive re- bounds. In the first half, Connecticut scored 32 of its 45 points in the paint. It finished with a 52-22 scoring advantage there while Stewart, Dolson and 6-0 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (18 points and seven rebounds) repeatedly sealed off the in- terior post and took well-placed passes for layups. The Huskies were credited with 25 assists on their 34 field goals. "They just overpowered us," Mc- Graw summarized. "They killed us in- side. Their bigs were just too much for us." The Huskies used two major runs in each half, 16-0 and 16-2, to break the game open. After Notre Dame took its lone lead at 8-6, the Stewart/Dolson tandem took control with the 16-0 spurt to make it 22-8, and the Irish were tread- ing water from there. "We just came out under-matched," Notre Dame senior All-America guard Kayla McBride said. "I don't think any- thing could have changed to change that. They just came out and they went directly in the post, and our help side Senior guard Kayla McBride led Notre Dame with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, but the Irish were no match for UConn's size in the paint. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT