Notre Dame–UConn women's basketball rivalry

The Notre Dame–UConn women's basketball rivalry is a college rivalry series between the UConn Huskies women's basketball team of the University of Connecticut and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team of the University of Notre Dame. The Huskies and Fighting Irish have met 53 times, including eight times in the NCAA Tournament and twice in the NCAA Championship, with the Huskies holding a 39–14 advantage.

Notre Dame–UConn women's basketball rivalry

UConn Huskies Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Sport	Women's basketball
First meeting	January 18, 1996 Connecticut 87, Notre Dame 64
Latest meeting	December 4, 2022 Connecticut 60, Notre Dame 74
Next meeting	January 27, 2024 Hartford, Connecticut
Statistics
Meetings total	53
All-time series	Connecticut leads 39–14
Largest victory	Connecticut, 80–53 (2002)
Longest win streak	Connecticut, 12 (2005–2011)
Current win streak	Notre Dame, 1 (2022–present)

[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]

Locations of Notre Dame and UConn

Background

The Connecticut Huskies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball teams are two of the more successful teams in women's collegiate basketball. The UConn Huskies have won eleven national championships,^[1][2] while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have nine Final Four appearances,^[3] with two National Championships in 2001 and 2018. Both teams formerly played in the Big East Conference, and appeared in the title game of the Big East tournament multiple times, with UConn appearing 23 times between 1989 and 2013, and Notre Dame appearing seven times in the same time period.

From April 2011 to March 2013, Notre Dame won seven out of its eight match-ups with UConn, the best performance of any team against UConn since Tennessee.^[4] However, Notre Dame fell to UConn in the 2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament despite Notre Dame beating them three times during the regular season that year.

In 2014, UConn and Notre Dame both went into the national championship undefeated. This is the first time two undefeated teams went to the title game in men's and women's NCAA Division I basketball history. ^[5] This was also their first meeting in a championship game. UConn won that game handily. The next year, both teams made it to the title game again, where UConn won its tenth national championship and third national championship in a row. New York Times reporter Harvey Araton observed that in this "latest showdown between the premier women’s programs" there was an "absence of the mutual hostility" that had characterized the previous year's matchup.^[1]

After seven consecutive wins by UConn over Notre Dame, the Irish beat the Huskies in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, in a controversial 91–89 overtime contest where Notre Dame had 23 free throw attempts to UConn's 6. Despite losing in a regular season matchup the following year, Notre Dame defeated UCONN again in the 2019 Final Four matchup 81-76. From the start of the 2011–2012 season to the end of the 2018–2019 season, UConn has only 15 losses, with 8 of them coming against Notre Dame.

Game results

UConn victories

Notre Dame victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Notes
1	January 18, 1996	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	87–64
2	February 24, 1996	Storrs, CT	UConn	86–79
3	March 5, 1996	Storrs, CT	UConn	71–54	Big East tournament
4	February 9, 1997	Storrs, CT	UConn	72–49
5	March 4, 1997	Storrs, CT	UConn	86–77	Big East tournament
6	December 6, 1997	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	78–59
7	February 21, 1998	Storrs, CT	UConn	73–61
8	March 2, 1998	Piscataway, NJ	UConn	73–53	Big East tournament
9	December 8, 1998	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	106–81
10	March 2, 1999	Piscataway, NJ	UConn	96–75	Big East tournament
11	February 26, 2000	Storrs, CT	UConn	77–59
12	January 15, 2001	Notre Dame, IN	Notre Dame	92–76
13	March 6, 2001	Storrs, CT	UConn	78–76	Big East tournament
14	March 30, 2001	St. Louis, MO	Notre Dame	90–75	NCAA Final Four
15	January 21, 2002	Hartford, CT	UConn	80–53
16	January 20, 2003	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	72–53
17	February 23, 2003	Storrs, CT	UConn	77–59
18	January 13, 2004	Notre Dame, IN	Notre Dame	66–51
19	January 12, 2005	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	67–50
20	January 30, 2005	Storrs, CT	Notre Dame	65–59
21	March 7, 2005	Hartford, CT	UConn	67–54	Big East tournament
22	February 19, 2006	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	79–64
23	March 5, 2006	Hartford, CT	UConn	71–60	Big East tournament
24	January 27, 2007	Storrs, CT	UConn	64–47
25	January 27, 2008	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	81–64
26	February 22, 2009	Hartford, CT	UConn	76–66
27	January 16, 2010	Storrs, CT	UConn	70–46
28	March 1, 2010	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	76–51
29	March 8, 2010	Hartford, CT	UConn	59–44	Big East tournament
30	January 8, 2011	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	79–76
31	February 19, 2011	Storrs, CT	UConn	78–57
32	March 8, 2011	Hartford, CT	UConn	73–64	Big East tournament
33	April 3, 2011	Indianapolis, IN	Notre Dame	72–63	NCAA Final Four
34	January 7, 2012	Notre Dame, IN	Notre Dame	74–67	OT
35	February 27, 2012	Hartford, CT	Notre Dame	72–59
36	March 6, 2012	Hartford, CT	UConn	63–54	Big East tournament
37	April 1, 2012	Denver, CO	Notre Dame	83–75	NCAA Final Four, OT
38	January 5, 2013	Storrs, CT	Notre Dame	73–72
39	March 4, 2013	Notre Dame, IN	Notre Dame	96–87	3OT
40	March 12, 2013	Hartford, CT	Notre Dame	61–59	Big East tournament
41	April 7, 2013	New Orleans, LA	UConn	83–65	NCAA Final Four
42	April 8, 2014	Nashville, TN	UConn	79–58	NCAA Championship Game
43	December 6, 2014	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	76–58	Jimmy V Women's Classic
44	April 7, 2015	Tampa, FL	UConn	63–53	NCAA Championship Game
45	December 5, 2015	Storrs, CT	UConn	91–81	Jimmy V Women's Classic
46	December 7, 2016	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	72–61
47	December 3, 2017	Hartford, CT	UConn	80–71	Jimmy V Women's Classic
48	March 30, 2018	Columbus, OH	Notre Dame	91–89	NCAA Final Four, OT
49	December 2, 2018	Notre Dame, IN	UConn	89–71	Jimmy V Women's Classic
50	April 5, 2019	Tampa, FL	Notre Dame	81–76	NCAA Final Four
51	December 8, 2019	Storrs, CT	UConn	81–57	Jimmy V Women's Classic
52	December 5, 2021	Storrs, CT	UConn	73–54
53	December 4, 2022	Notre Dame, IN	Notre Dame	74–60	Jimmy V Women's Classic
Series: UConn leads 39–14

References

1. Araton, Harvey (April 7, 2015). "UConn's Win Isn't Pretty, but Title Is a Perfect 10th for Geno Auriemma". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
2. "UConn overcomes 12-point first half to squeeze past Stanford for second straight title". ESPN. April 6, 2010.
3. "Women's Basketball Gameday Central – #9/7 Notre Dame vs. #1 Connecticut (NCAA Women's Final Four)". CBSSports.com. April 3, 2011.
4. "UConn vs. Notre Dame: Rivalry brings attention to sport". Yahoo.com. April 7, 2015.
5. "UConn, Notre Dame bring lots of history to title showdown". USA Today. April 7, 2014.