Updated BIG EAST Notes
BIG EAST Conference play begins Saturday with five games, three of which are televised. No. 1/1 Connecticut (12-0) hosts No. 5/5 Notre Dame (11-1) on CBS in one of the top women’s basketball games of the season. The 4 p.m. contest is already soldout at 10,000-seat Gampel Pavilion. Nine of the previous 12 regular-season matchups have come before a sellout crowd. In addition, the teams have met in the Final Four each of the previous two years.
Notre Dame has won four of the last five meetings, including a pair of overtime thrillers in January of 2012 and April of 2012. The contest will be the ninth game between the two squads in the last three seasons. In addition, the links below have highlights of each game.
Recent Series History (UConn leads all-time 29-8)
Date Result Note
Jan. 16, 2010 UConn 70, Notre Dame 46
March 1, 2010 UConn 76, Notre Dame 51
March 8, 2010 UConn 59, Notre Dame 44 BIG EAST Championship
Jan. 8, 2011 UConn 79, Notre Dame 76
Feb. 19, 2011 UConn 78, Notre Dame 57
March 8, 2011 UConn 73, Notre Dame 64 BIG EAST Championship
April 3, 2011 Notre Dame 72, UConn 63 Final Four – NCAA semifinals
Jan. 7, 2012 Notre Dame 74, UConn 67 (ot)
Feb. 27, 2012 Notre Dame 72, UConn 59
March 6, 2012 UConn 63, Notre Dame 54 BIG EAST Championship
April 1, 2012 Notre Dame 83, UConn 75 (ot) Final Four – NCAA semifinals
Also on Saturday, No. 11/10 Louisville (12-2) is at DePaul (11-3) at 6 p.m. The contest is the BIG EAST Game of the Week and will be televised on numerous affiliates including SNY and live online for free at bigeast.tv.
In addition, Providence (5-8) hosts Georgetown (9-4) at 2 p.m., while Seton Hall (5-8) welcomes Pittsburgh (9-4). Syracuse (12-1) travels to Marquette (8-5) at 8 p.m., in a game televised locally on Time Warner Sports 32.
Five league teams wrapped up nonconference play on Wednesday. Georgetown (9-4) edged Temple 66-58 at home, while Marquette (8-5) won at Central Michigan 78-74. Senior Sugar Rodgers had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hoyas, while junior Katherine Plouffe led the Golden Eagles with a career-high 24 points along with seven rebounds.
In addition, Rutgers (9-4) beat La Salle 54-50 at home without senior Monique Oliver who did not play. Senior Erica Wheeler had 14 points to lead the RU offense.
Pittsburgh (9-4) won at Old Dominion 55-54 as junior forward Asia Logan collected her fifth double-double of the season, pouring in 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
St. Johns (6-6) lost to Delaware 60-59 in overtime at home. With 28 seconds on the clock, St. John’s freshman Aliyyah Handford made two free throws to give the Red Storm a one-point lead over visiting Delaware. But with the final possession and 0.7 seconds left, senior center Elena Delle Donne pulled up for a jumper that gave the Blue Hens a 60-59 win.
Material from interviews, school websites, the Associated Press wire service as well as league and team sources was used in this report. All times are Eastern
