UConn/Notre Dame Prediction

[rford53]

The final game with the best finish! 78 - 62 UConn all the way!

 

[Sonny44]

Depends on whether or not we can finally shed our recent practice of poor first halfs.
Good first half: UConn wins easy, 83 - 65.
Poor first half: UConn wins, 75 - 67.

 

[DavidK]

72-61

Uconn wins it all

 

[HoopsFan21]

I hope ND's inconsistent defense continues tonight. The cold shooting Huskies could use a little confidence booster, especially at the start. If things start to go ND's way, I hope Coach isn't slow to pull the trigger on going big. Lately when Kiah comes into the game things turn around in a hurry. Her defensive presence is quite deflating to the other team. Would love for Stef to have a monster night in her final game as a Husky.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

UConn 75 - 63 as long as the pope doesn't place t/ces to the refs.

 

[ctdad]

The Irish will try to run and tire out the Huskies. To do that, they have to rebound, which will be a tall order (no pun intended) against the bigger Husky front line, and would have been even with Achonwa in the line-up.

Another key will be which team limits the effects of those 15-0 or 20-4 runs both teams often willl go on to break open a close game. The team that limits that to 10-2 or 12-4 will have the upper hand.

I see this as a 8 point game late, with the winner breaking it open via fouls shots to a 12-15 point final margin.

My heart is with my alma mater, but my head says (and has for most of the season) that the Husky bigs and D will prevail. I'd love to be wrong.

This will be my final post, at least for a while. If the Irish win, I don't want to be accused of gloating and if the Huskies win, it's your party and you don't need me crashing it. Should the latter be true, I'll just say congratulations early.

 

[rvwsleep]

Well, no one has scored 70 against UCONN this year (and 14 games since an opponent scored 60 !) and I don't see it happening this game. UCONN 74- ND 64

 

[HoopsFan21]

Well, no one has scored 70 against UCONN this year (and 14 games since an opponent scored 60 !) and I don't see it happening this game. UCONN 74- ND 64

UConn is facing the top offense tonight, while ND is facing the top defense. I'm hoping this is not one of those grind it out games. If Stewie is hitting shots early, ball game is over. We all saw what happened last year when that young lady gets on a roll - there's no stopping her.

 

[msf22b]

the key is obviously defending Notre Dames two All-Americans and not giving Mabrey a chance to get going
Geno has a pretty good record of neutralizing the power of opposing teams.

Same score as las year.

 

[alexrgct]

Part of me doesn't know what the hell is going to happen in this game. Another part of me thinks this UConn team is going to have just a little bit more up its sleeve than ND will be ready for.

I think UConn wins with the closest margin of the season. I'll say 72-65.

 

[ChicagoGG]

There are some factors that could contribute...ND is as well conditioned as UConn, and can run with them all game, unlike most. ND had the Terps gasping the other night. Foul trouble could make this game go either way, and ND is great at playing the refs. Foul shooting is going to be big. I confess, this game makes me nervous, particularly since ND is also very physical and they don't want to beat us, they want to bury us. I hope no one gets hurt. Our shooting and our first halves of games have been very inconsistent since the Tournament started. I just hope that we are hungry enough and smart enough to take what they throw at us, because they are going for the jugular early. Confidence is good, but consistency is better. As long as we beat those green people, I will be a happy woman. I think we will win by 5. GO UCONN!

 

[Geno-ista]

Uconn by 20-25! We break out of our minor offensive slump. We can thank Muppet for the big win! These kids will be fired up and focused and super motivated! We will run them off the court!!!!! 85-63 may be lower scoring but still 20-25!

 

[JellyBean]

I think with all of the recent trash talk, we are going to play with an edge, so we are going to win huge: UConn 84-48

And I must have missed something. What was said a few years ago between the two program that got this all heated up? We have never liked Tennessee. But I do not ever recall it being this heated before.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Part of me doesn't know what the hell is going to happen in this game. Another part of me thinks this UConn team is going to have just a little bit more up its sleeve than ND will be ready for.

I think UConn wins with the closest margin of the season. I'll say 72-65.

I don't think there are any new wrinkles in the game plan coming tonight. The championship game is probably not a good time to start tinkering with what got you here. As Geno says, both coaches know what the other is going to do, and both teams are going to run their stuff, and whoever makes shots will win.

 

[Striper69]

I think if ND had a healthy Achonwa then it'd be more of an even game but ND still has a chance. I didn't think they could outrebound Maryland but they did. They need to do the same tonight to have a chance.

 

[ochoopsfan]

UConn 90
ND 84
Double OT
A lot of soiled "Depends" tonite

One note--Dear Refs---please dont have a game like ND v Baylor with all of those fouls........"Let Them Play"

 

[doggydaddy]

UConn is facing the top offense tonight, while ND is facing the top defense. I'm hoping this is not one of those grind it out games. If Stewie is hitting shots early, ball game is over. We all saw what happened last year when that young lady gets on a roll - there's no stopping her.

They don't have to same top offense without Achonwa.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I think if ND had a healthy Achonwa then it'd be more of an even game but ND still has a chance. I didn't think they could outrebound Maryland but they did. They need to do the same tonight to have a chance.

Yeah ND had 50 rebounds in that game. I almost wonder if it would be better to start Kiah tonight instead of Kaleena just for that reason. Given UConn's poor outside shooting lately owning the interior is going to be very important assuming the refs allow the big bad bully Huskies to control the paint.

 

[CTGirl15]

I'm really nervous about this game. I think it's UConn's to lose and at any other point in the year, I would say UConn by 15+. But, UConn's been struggling offensively, Notre Dame is coming off a monster game (even if it was against the poorly coached Maryland Terps), and UConn's bench is very short right now.

I don't think ND has faced this caliber of defense all year, so I think that will favor UConn. If we can get our shots to fall early, take care of the ball, and don't foul, I think we win by 10-15+.

If we struggle with fouls, can't stop McBride/Loyd, Stewie disappears, or we settle for 3's instead of trying to get the ball inside, I think this game is a 4 point toss-up in the final minute.

We need to take advantage of Achonwa's absence on both sides of the ball, we need to avoid fouls, and we need to execute our offense.

I think Stef and Bria will have big games and carry this team to the championship, with Stewie having an 15-20 point performance, solid games from KML and Moriah, and Kiah off the bench with double digit rebounds and several key blocks.

Game stays close in the first half, teams trade leads and there are several ties, but UConn starts to pull away in the second half and wins 75-62.

 

[rocky rococo]

All season long, UConn has had only one major weakness: giving up offensive rebounds. There's a reason UConn leads tend to balloon when Kiah comes in the game. Unlike the other UConn bigs, who reach and slap at the ball, Kiah digs in, gets position and boxes out consistently. I'll bet opponents' OR numbers drop sharply when she's in the game. I want plenty of Kiah tonight to keep annoyances like Loyd and McBride off the boards. If so, Huskies 75-69.

 

[cohenzone]

Neither team has faced the caliber of O that the other is capable of, but with ND.s excellent center gone, I'm not so sure that ND can sustain against UConn anything like what it did against MD. Uconn tends to be 10 points or so better than ND on D, and given how good UConn can be on O, and how reliable their D has been, it isn't unreasonable to see UConn scoring on them more readily than other teams have, and holding ND to lower than normal O totals, especially with their inexperienced post, coupled with our really good post D. Double digits for UConn I suspect, and I can't see ND winning anything but a nail biter. I also wouldn't be shocked to see the ND kids feed off McGraw's current anti-UConn psychosis and come out tighter than a whale bone corset.

 

[reno tony]

69 - 84

 

[HoopsFan21]

Neither team has faced the caliber of O that the other is capable of, but with ND.s excellent center gone, I'm not so sure that ND can sustain against UConn anything like what it did against MD. Uconn tends to be 10 points or so better than ND on D, and given how good UConn can be on O, and how reliable their D has been, it isn't unreasonable to see UConn scoring on them more readily than other teams have, and holding ND to lower than normal O totals, especially with their inexperienced post, coupled with our really good post D. Double digits for UConn I suspect, and I can't see ND winning anything but a nail biter. I also wouldn't be shocked to see the ND kids feed off McGraw's current anti-UConn psychosis and come out tighter than a whale bone corset.

ND's defense is good, not sure I'd call it great, and it's certainly inconsistent. Without Achonwa it becomes a less good defense.

 

[Suebird10fan]

71-58 us.

I was tempted to tip my hat to 2002 and go with 82-70 but I don't think it will be a high scoring affair.

 

[Hongster]

Here's how we simply beat them bad.
Deny Mcbride's touches.
Shut down the inside with our Bigs and win the rebounds.

UConn by 20.