Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

UConn women defeat rival Notre Dame for Geno Auriemma’s 10th national championship

Geno Auriemma

AP

AP

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma has been to 10 national championship games with each of those contests ending with the him cutting down the nets.

On Tuesday night, the UConn women’s basketball team completed its second three-peat in program history, defeating Auriemma’s rival Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame, 63-53, at the Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida.

Auriemma’s 10th national title ties him with the late John Wooden for the most championships in college basketball history.
RELATED: UConn raising the bar in women’s game more important than Wooden comparisons

The Huskies (38-1) trailed the Fighting Irish (36-3) for fewer than three minutes, early in the first half.

However, Notre Dame kept it interesting. The Fighting Irish turned a 12-point deficit to a two-possession game on several occasion, the final threat coming with 5:30 left, trailing UConn 56-50. UConn senior guard Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis responded with fie straight points, upping the lead to 61-50 with 4:58 remaining.

UConn was 6-of-11 from three in the second half and 8-for-23 on the evening.

Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson led the Huskies with 15 points each. Breanna Stewart, the National Player of the Year, ended with eight points and 15 rebounds, missing part of the first half after rolling her ankle. Stewart, who was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player for an unprecedented third time. The junior forward is 18-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Brianna Turner had a team-high 14 points for the national runner-up.

During UConn’s three straight titles, the Huskies are 113-5.

Follow @terrence_payne