Women’s Elite 8 heavyweight
No. 6 Notre Dame — featuring Azzi Fudd, Sarah Strong and Hannah Hidalgo — is set for a heavyweight Elite 8 clash with No. 1 UConn in a marquee women’s matchup ( ). UConn and UCLA have looked dominant through the Sweet 16, and this Notre Dame pairing shapes up as the tournament’s most intriguing physical matchup (espn.com).
Elite Eight tipoff is set for Sunday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m. ET at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Phoenix and the game airing nationally on ABC. (espn.com) Connecticut enters the game unbeaten at 37-0 and riding a 53-game winning streak as the defending national champion. (espn.com) Notre Dame reached its first Elite Eight since 2019 after a Sweet 16 win in which Hannah Hidalgo posted a 31-point triple-double (31 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) that included 10 steals and helped push her to a single-season steals record. (espn.com) The two programs meet for the 57th time overall, a series UConn leads 40-16, and the teams already played this season with UConn defeating Notre Dame 85-47 on Jan. 19. (espn.com) Azzi Fudd is a UConn guard averaging roughly 17.6 points per game this season and has produced multiple 20-plus scoring outings during the tournament run. (espn.com) Sarah Strong, also with UConn, recorded a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Huskies’ Sweet 16 victory and is listed among UConn’s primary scorers and rebounders this season. (lasvegassun.com) Oddsmakers opened the matchup as a heavy mismatch, with lines showing UConn favored by about 27.5 points and an over/under in the low-140s, reflecting expectations of a lopsided result. (sportsbettingdime.com)
