Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles (5) looks to shoot while Connecticut’s Christyn Williams defends. | Jessica Hill/AP
Sonia Citron had 19 points to lead Notre Dame, which had its final lead at 10-9 in the first quarter.
STORRS, Conn. — Paige Bueckers scored 22 points but went down with an injury at the end of No. 2 UConn’s 73-54 win over No. 24 Notre Dame on Sunday.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies (5-1), who dominated underneath, outrebounding Notre Dame 45-32 and outscored the Fighting Irish 28-16 in the paint.
UConn freshman Caroline Ducharme scored a season-best 14 points and Aaliyah Edwards chipped in with 10.
Bueckers, last season’s national player of the year, was dribbling in the final minute of the game when she stumbled, twisting her left leg. She went to the floor a few seconds later and had to be helped off the court. The extent of her injury was not immediately clear.
Sonia Citron had 19 points to lead Notre Dame (7-2), which had its final lead at 10-9 in the first quarter.
The Huskies led by 10 points at halftime and by 12 early in the second half. But Notre Dame used a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 51-44 headed into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies took over from there. A 3-pointer from Bueckers made it 56-44 and UConn scored the first 13 points of the final quarter to put the game away.
UConn fell behind early, before going on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. The Huskies ended the first quarter leading 16-12.
A 3-point play by Nelson-Ododa after an offensive rebound gave UConn a 28-23 lead and sparked a run that saw the Huskies score 10 of the final 12 points in the half.
A full-court pass from Bueckers to Christyn Williams, who laid the ball in just before the buzzer, sent the Huskies into halftime leading 35-25.
The Huskies had 14 of their 18 second-chance points in the first half, while holding the Irish to just four during the game.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: This was Niele Ivey’s first game against UConn as a head coach. The Irish are now 13-39 all-time against the Huskies, 0-9 in the month of December and 9-11 over the last 20 meetings.
UConn: Before the game, UConn dedicated a monument outside of Gampel Pavilion honoring the school’s Olympians, including 16 former Husky women basketball players. Eleven of those won gold medals, led by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, who each have five.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame: Continues its road trip with a visit to Valparaiso on Wednesday.
UConn: Travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Thursday.
