No. 1 UConn beats No. 2 Notre Dame, 72-61, for 83rd win in row

Napheesa Collier scored 20 points, Gabby Williams had 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and No. 1 Connecticut beat No. 2 Notre Dame 72-61 on Wednesday night for its 83rd straight victory.

The Huskies (8-0) trailed briefly in late in the second quarter, but played with the lead most of the game as they controlled the inside, outscoring the Irish 42-30 in the paint and finishing with a 35-32 edge in rebounding.

Brianna Turner led the Irish (8-1) with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Lindsay Allen added 11 points.

After Notre Dame tied it at 42 with just under 2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Huskies forced a pair of turnovers leading to layups by Katie Lou Samuelson and Williams. Collier added a pair of free throws to give Connecticut led 50-43 at the end of the third quarter.

The Huskies stretched it to 65-54 on a 3-point play by Samuelson with 3:06 left to put the game away.

The Huskies were just 1 of 9 from 3-point range, but the Irish were just 3 of 14. The Huskies had a big advantage in foul shooting, making 19 of 20 while the Irish were just 4 of 8.

Notre Dame, which had trailed twice all season for a total of 18 seconds, fell behind 11-2 in the first 4 minutes as it started 1 of 5 from the floor while the Huskies were 3 of 6.

The Huskies shot 60 percent in the first quarter to grab a 23-14 lead and extended the lead to 11 early in the second on a basket by Kia Nurse. But the Irish used a pair of 9-0 runs in the second quarter to move ahead 34-30 before the Huskies responded with a 12 run, tying the score at 34-34 at halftime and then moving ahead 42-34 in the third quarter when Dangerfield banked in a layup. The Irish bounced back with an 8-0 run.

The Huskies’ last loss was 88-86 in overtime to Stanford on Nov. 17, 2014.