Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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A crucial turning point in the game occurred with 5:04 left when the Irish trailed only 56-50 and had been gradu- ally chipping away at what had been a 38-26 Huskies advantage. Loyd drove down the left side and appeared to have a clear lane to the basket before missing a contested layup. Six seconds later on the fast break, Mosqueda-Lewis, the NCAA's all-time three-point leader, pulled up for a trey on what proved to be a crucial five-point swing that made it 59-50. Connecticut made only 3 of 13 three- point attempts in the first half, but con- verted on five of its first eight beyond the arc in the second half to keep the Irish at bay. Shortly thereafter, Mosqueda-Lewis added the dagger with another jumper that made it 61-50. Both teams had a sloppy first half, particularly with Notre Dame total- ing 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes while going into the halftime locker room with a 31-23 deficit. The closest the Irish were able to come from there was when junior guard Michaela Mabrey converted a three (she was 3 of 3 from beyond the arc) to open the second half to narrow their deficit to 31-26. Although Connecticut graduates Mosqueda-Lewis, it is the overwhelm- ing pick to win a fourth straight national title next season in Stewart's senior year. "I said that I wanted to win four championships, but you can't win four without winning three," Stewart said. Same time next year — and maybe another opportunity for the Irish to close the gap against a dynasty. ✦ The Road To No. 2 March 20: Notre Dame 77, Montana 43 The Irish shot 62.3 percent from the floor (33 of 53) in its rout of the Big Sky Conference champs. Junior All-American Jewell Loyd tallied 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting before sitting the final 13 minutes. Fresh- man center Brianna Turner added 12 points, while classmate and forward Kathryn Westbeld grabbed 10 rebounds, made all three of her field goals and recorded four steals in her 18 minutes. March 22: Notre Dame 79, DePaul 67 Back in December, Notre Dame needed a school-record-tying 41 points from Loyd to defeat DePaul in overtime. This time Loyd converted only 3 of 15 from the field, but everyone else took up the slack. Junior guard Michaela Mabrey led the Irish with 19 points, highlighted by a 5-of-7 effort from three-point range. Once Mabrey established the perimeter, Turner (14 points and 11 rebounds) and sophomore Taya Reimer (14 points and 10 rebounds) controlled the paint. DePaul was second nationally in scoring with 86.6 points per game, but the improved Irish defense limited it to 67. March 27: Notre Dame 81, Stanford 60 In Oklahoma City, sophomore point guard Lindsay Allen scorched the nets with 24 first-half points to provide a 42-31 halftime cushion. She did it on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-7 effort from beyond the three-point arc, en route to a career-high 28 points. Loyd scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half versus the lone team this year to defeat UConn. March 29: Notre Dame 77, Baylor 68 Allen was named Most Outstanding Player of the Oklahoma City Regional after a team-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and a 3-of-4 performance from the foul line. She also paced the team