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Notre Dame Hands Connecticut Its First Loss

© Michelle Parke

It was the biggest upset of the season, but the Fighting Irish did not see it that way. On Monday, Notre Dame handed the UConn Huskies its first loss of the season, proving Geno Auriemma's squad was, in fact, human after all. The Fighting Irish knew they had the talent to beat anyone and knew UConn would be their biggest challenge to date.

Notre Dame won at home in front of a sellout crowd with a final score of 92-76. It was a match-up of the only undefeated teams in the nation. The Irish showed the rest of the country they were now the team to beat as the race to March heats up.

Fighting Irish center Ruth Riley proved what a formidable force she was inside, ending the evening with 29 points and 12 rebounds. She was perfect from the free throw line and had 5 blocked shots. The domination inside the paint was not ruled by Riley. She had help from forward Kelly Siemon. She played with a broken hand, which she suffered two nights earlier in the Virginia Tech game. Despite her injury, Siemon had 15 points and 8 rebounds against the nation's top team. Point guard Niele Ivey added 14 points, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and dished out 10 assists. Ivey was superb against the stifling Connecticut press and ran the floor well for Muffet McGraw's squad.

The night did not start well for the Huskies as they missed six of their first seven shots. Shea Ralph, one of UConn's go-to players and a consistent scorer, was held to only 2 points. Forward Swin Cash, who is usually money for Auriemma's squad inside the paint, only had 3 points. All-American Svetlana Abrosimova led her UConn team with 20 points and point guard Sue Bird added 17 points.

A look at the stats depicts Notre Dame's domination. The Fighting Irish shot 57 percent from the field while holding the Huskies to an uncharacteristic 37 percent. From three-point range, Notre Dame shot 68 percent compared to UConn's 33 percent. The turnovers were even but UConn had 10 more steals than their opponent but were unable to capitalize on them.

The win will build up the confidence of the Fighting Irish while adding a dose of reality to the Husky players.

Who will win the 2001 NCAA championship? After this game, it's anybody's guess.

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