Hidalgo: Notre Dame won't be 'starstruck' by UConn in rematch - ESPN

FORT WORTH — Notre Dame junior star Hannah Hidalgo doesn't have to be reminded what happened the last time her Irish faced off against the UConn Huskies: a 38-point blowout in Storrs, the first time in her career she'd lost to the Notre Dame's longtime rival.

But Jan. 19 feels like ages ago — especially considering how far this No. 6 seed Irish team, now playing its best basketball, has come since then.

«I feel like I can say that UConn hasn't seen the best Notre Dame,» Hidalgo said on Saturday, a day before her team will meet the Huskies in the Elite Eight for the first time. «I take joy in knowing that when they saw us the first time, it was not Notre Dame basketball. Now we're playing Notre Dame basketball to the best of our ability, and so I think it'll be a fun game.»

Hidalgo had been a problem for the Huskies earlier in her career. As a freshman, she put up 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists against them in Storrs, and she once more nearly notched a triple-double against them the following year in South Bend with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

But the script was flipped earlier this season. Hidalgo struggled in that January contest, finishing with just 16 points on 5 for 15 shooting. And the roster turnover Notre Dame experienced this past offseason meant this Irish group was relatively inexperienced going up against a program as iconic — and a team that remains as dominant — as the Huskies.

«I think before when we played UConn, we played a little afraid,» Hidalgo said, pointing in part to the Huskies' physicality. "… I think we were a little probably starstruck. Being in a stage like that was different.… it was a lot of people's first time playing at UConn, against UConn. So now that we've seen it,