Notre Dame can beat UConn with 3s, D, and a lotta luck

Connecticut and Notre Dame are two of the biggest powerhouses in college basketball, and their Final Four matchup could make for one of the best games of the season.

The No. 1 seed Huskies and No. 1 seed Fighting Irish have a history of playing competitively, as Irish head coach Muffet McGraw and Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma know each other all too well at this point.

The teams have played each other 47 times ever, and both coaches have been at their current positions since the rivalry heated up. Connecticut leads the all-time series, 36-11, but both sides of the rivalry have had their moments lately. UConn has won seven straight head-to-head matchups, but Notre Dame won seven of the eight games before that.

McGraw’s team came close to snapping the current streak this past December when Connecticut won by a mere nine points — a truly close game for them. The year prior, they won by 11. As one of the few teams in the nation who can recruit in the same realm as Auriemma, the Irish keep the Huskies on edge.

Can McGraw’s unit dethrone Connecticut for the first time since 2013?

The Irish built a double-digit lead against the Huskies going into the fourth quarter of a matchup earlier this season. For a team that’s lost two games in the last five years, that never happens to the Huskies. And Notre Dame didn’t even play all that well.

Guard Marina Mabrey went off for 21 points on 15 shots, and hit 4-of-9 attempts from three. She was the star. But Arike Ogunbowale, the team’s best scorer, had 25 points on a poor shooting night (8-of-25). Yet, Notre Dame stayed close throughout. Jessica Shephard, a 16-points per game scorer had just 10 on 13 shots, too. This was far from a stellar Notre Dame showing.

The Irish were able to stay so close because UConn’s stars, Gabby Williams and Katie Lou Samuelson, missed time. Williams sat the entire second half with a migraine, and Samuelson tweaked her ankle in the fourth quarter. Neither team was at the top of their game.

A defensive collapse brought UConn back in the game, though, and Notre Dame missed its big chance.

Not true. Notre Dame is one of a select few teams that can make a game out of a 40-minute contest with Connecticut.

Ogunbowale, a 21 points per game scorer who shoots 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from deep, won’t shoot so poorly again. She went 1-of-10 from three in Notre Dame’s loss, and it took her 25 shots for her to score as many points. One of the best talents in the country isn’t likely going out in the same manner again.

The Fighting Irish are an experienced group too. Three of their five starters from last season remain, and a fourth was moved up from the bench to start this season. They start a senior, three juniors, and a sophomore, and for four of those players, it will be their third time as a unit playing against Connecticut. They’ve done this before, and are coached by a legend.

Ogunbowale shoots like a superstar, her supporting cast plays up to its potential, and the Irish can contain one of UConn’s power trio of Gabby Williams, Katie Lou Samuelson, or Napheesa Collier.

The Huskies are undefeated after 36 games, and have been by far the best team in college basketball, but they aren’t invincible. Notre Dame isn’t the only team to come close this year. No. 2 seed Texas, which was eliminated in the Sweet 16, came within four points after holding Williams and Collier to a combined 16 points.

The Irish will need to have similar defensive poise to do what nobody else could this season.