Fort Worth – Sometimes, history can repeat itself.
With a dominant 63-42 win over the No. 4 – seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, the top-ranked UConn Huskies advanced to the Elite 8.
To get there, though, Connecticut had to weather a few hurdles.
As the Huskies struggled to find their way in the first half of the matchup, it was very reminiscent of their Sweet 16 against Oklahoma last season.
Despite Connecticut being down by four points in the first half last year against the Sooner, they rallied back to punch their ticket to the Elite 8 with a score of 82-59.
On Friday evening, Blanca Quiñonez and Sarah Strong were the catalysts for their program securing a spot in the Elite 8.
Throughout her first-year campaign, Quiñonez has had a knack for flipping the script for the program in times of struggle.
The Ecuador native finished her third-career March Madness game with 16 points, four steals and three rebounds.
As UConn wrestled to maintain their lead against the Tar Heels, Quiñonez’s checking into the game was what the doctor ordered.
After trading the lead back and forth with the Tar Heels, the Huskies capitalized on sequences in transition. Though Connecticut struggled to maintain consistency in their shooting in the first half.
With a little over six minutes to go in the first quarter, Head Coach Geno Auriemma subbed in Quiñonez for Serah Williams, who racked up a total seven points in the first frame, shooting 3-5 from the field.
“Blanca [Quiñonez] was great tonight, and what she brought off the bench, the way she came in aggressive, on the attack, was exactly what we needed.” Azzi Fudd said to the media postgame, “It helped us when it felt like we were in a little lull, and she came in and changed the energy we needed.”
Despite the Huskies being down 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, sophomore Sarah Strong aided her team in rallying back.
With 11 points and three rebounds from Strong, Connecticut would head into halftime with an eight-point cushion with the score 28-20, UConn.
Strong finished the game with a double-double, totaling 21 points and 10 rebounds. Per Alexa Phillapou of ESPN, she now has four career games where she has scored more than 20 points and 10 rebounds. This makes the North Carolina native the most in program history, for a player who has only participated in two tournaments.
“I do think, though, that, you know, when the time comes and when it’s absolutely much needed, I think she’ll step up,” Auriemma said when asked about Strong.
Throughout the entirety of the first half, the stifling defense was proving to be the Achilles heel for UConn’s sharpshooter, Fudd.
Connecticut shifted gears, though, heading into the second half.
The Huskies made night and day alterations to their game in the third quarter, forcing the Tar Heels to only put up five points to the score and shoot 11% from the field and beyond the arc.
With the program’s defensive intensity, they managed to break the single-season National record in steals with 864. The last time the Huskies attained this feat was in the 2016-17 season.
“Our whole thing was we need to score earlier and we need to play a little quicker, and that’s exactly what we did in the third quarter.” Auriemma said to the media postgame, “We came out, and we played much quicker and got more shots up earlier in our possession rather than later.”
In the final frame of the matchup, with UConn up by 23 points, they stayed consistent with their momentum with Quiñonez contributing five points to put a cherry on top of the game.
Next up, the Huskies will face Hannah Hidalgo and the No. 6-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday.
“Today the way that we played, I feel like our half-court defense, our half-court offense, there are some things we can fine-tune and clean up, but I thought that we did a great job today,” Fudd said to the media postgame. “So we’re definitely a different team, and so are they. We’re looking forward to it.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ESfrom Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Husky fans can tune in to this matchup on ESPN.