UConn beats Notre Dame for Big East title
Connecticut players celebrate a 63-54 win over Notre Dame during the final of the Big East women's tournament in Hartford, Conn. (March 6, 2012) Credit: AP
HARTFORD -- This was the matchup Geno Auriemma wanted.
No disrespect intended to the other Big East schools, but the Connecticut coach thought it would be fitting to see two of the top women's basketball teams in the nation go at it for the conference title. And when the night was over, Auriemma walked off the XL Center court with his 800th victory and the Huskies walked off as champions.
Behind standout performances by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Tiffany Hayes and North Babylon's Bria Hartley, third-seeded UConn outmuscled and outhustled No. 1 seed Notre Dame, 63-54, to win its fifth consecutive Big East Tournament title Tuesday night.
Mosqueda-Lewis, the Big East Freshman of the Year, led all scorers with 19 points and was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
She is the first UConn freshman since Diana Taurasi in 2001 to earn the tournament honor. Hartley scored 18 points and Hayes 14 for UConn (29-4).
The Irish (30-3) defeated UConn in their three previous meetings, but now the Huskies have defeated Notre Dame in each of their six Big East championship game matchups.
"It's hard to lose any game,'' Hayes said, "and to lose to one team three straight times -- it doesn't sit well."
Notre Dame went on a 13-4 run to pull within 31-30 at the break.
The deficit still was only one point minutes into the second half, but after that, it was all UConn.
The surge began with a Hartley jumper, a couple of well-timed Kelly Faris threes, key defensive stops by Hayes and plenty of Mosqueda-Lewis putbacks to balloon the Huskies' lead to 12 with 1:12 left.
"We just really wanted it," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "We've been working toward this since the beginning of the season. Tonight, we played our hearts out."
Big East Player of the Year Skylar Diggins (16 points) was a nonfactor for Notre Dame for much of the night. She scored just four points in the first half, and her eight points in the final 1:37 made little difference.
It was a total team effort by the Huskies -- the same type of physical and aggressive attack they mounted against St. John's in Monday's semifinal.
Hartley scored six straight points in a 1:27 span in the second half, including a fast-break layup on Diggins after intercepting a pass near midcourt. Hartley said the Huskies were determined to make a statement.
"Every time we step on the court," she said, "we want to prove that we have some fight."
