Geno Auriemma Explains Why Notre Dame's Limited Roster Availability Hurt UConn
The No. 2 ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team fell to 8-1 in the 2024-25 regular season after losing to Hannah Hidalgo and the No. 8 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a score of 79-68 on December 12.
The game felt like Notre Dame's to win from the opening tip-off, as they were able to rely on Hidalgo, Liatu King, and Olivia Miles to provide constant offense (and excitement) while outclassing UConn's guards in what ended up being Notre Dame's third win against a top-five ranked team in the country this season.
Before Thursday's game, it was clear that UConn had a deeper roster. But Notre Dame's deficient depth actually played to their advantage against the Huskies, as they only played seven players (compared to nine for UConn), and their top players essentially played the entire contest.
Hidalgo played 39 minutes (as did King), Sonia Citron played 37 minutes, freshman center Kate Koval played 30 minutes, and Miles played 27 minutes (although that was because she was dealing with an ankle injury all game).
Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma alluded to this limited roster availability actually helping the Irish rather than hindering them postgame.
"Having only six players is a real blessing right now for [Notre Dame]," Auriemma said, per a post from the @MarchMadnessWBB X account. "You never sub. So those guys are in there, you've got to deal with them all the whole game.
"Like, you're never looking at them, going 'They're going to get a breather sometime soon.' They don't," he added. "So those guys are attacking you for the entire 40 minutes. And I don't know that I've seen anybody up close yet that can do that."
Game Recognize Game 🤝 #NCAAWBB pic.twitter.com/StHPOImxDs
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) December 13, 2024
While this lack of depth may come back to hurt Notre Dame in the postseason, they're certainly benefitting from it right now.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.