TAMPA ― If you were walking by Amalie Arena on Friday night and were struck in the head by a record book that was thrown out the window, we apologize. Notre Dame and UConn were playing. The Red Sox and Yankees need each other. North Carolina and Duke need each other. Alabama and Clemson need each other. I’m sure in some ways, especially on birthdays, North Korea and South Korea need each other. Notre Dame and UConn. They need each other. Guess what? We need them too. That was Friday night at the Final Four, as the top two women’s basketball powerhouses in the country rocked the house for the 50th time in their ferocious history, for the eighth time at the NCAA Tournament ― in fact, for the eighth time at the Final Four, which tells you something. These two always stand in each other’s way. That’s the way the world is. Everything was on the line Friday, as usual. Cheers or tears? What was it going to be? It was going to be defending national champion Notre Dame, 81-76, roaring back in the second half in an instant classic. The Irish beat the Huskies in the national semifinals again. They’re 5-3 against UConn in the tournament. It all began with the perfunctory dead-mackerels handshake between coaches. Did Notre Dame’s stomach-churning Muffet McGraw even look at UConn open-collared legend and provocateur Geno Auriemma? McGraw recently described Auriemma as a “bully.” Play ball! That they did. And it was marvelous. With all due respect to 36-1 Baylor, which outlasted upstart Oregon in Friday’s first game, the second semifinal was the real national championship game. Everyone in the building knew it. It lived up to that billing, see-saw, 26 lead changes, six in the last three minutes alone, back and forth, heavyweights and haymakers, no quarter asked for, none given, big plays and big players everywhere. It wasn’t last year’s national semifinal, when Notre Dame shooting star Arike Ogunbowale beat UConn at the horn on the way to the national title game (an Ogunbowale shot won that one, too). But the Big O led the way this time, too, with 14-fourth quarter points to end UConn hopes for a 12th national title. Don’t think Auriemma’s Huskies liked that. Don’t think McGraw’s Fighting Irish didn’t like that, a lot. Maybe in another time and place, if they weren’t chasing the same exact thing, McGraw and Auriemma could be friends. I vote maybe not. There were no true extra-curriculars, like when UConn trounced Notre Dame at South Bend in December, which featured rough play from Ogunbowale, who clothes-lined UConn’s Crystal Dangerfield, then jawed at Auriemma. McGraw and her team later issued an apology to Irish fans and alumni. But not to Auriemma and the Huskies. Think this is good for women’s basketball? “Yes, because you’re asking questions about it, you’re writing a story about it,” ESPN studio analyst and former Georgia coach Andy Landers said the day before Notre Dame and UConn rocked. “Otherwise, nobody ever hears us, there wouldn’t be anything in the news today about women’s basketball.” Notre Dame, a two-time national champion, has chased and caught UConn. UConn-Tennessee, Auriemma against the great Pat Summitt, was once the marquee matchup in women’s hoops. But those schools played only 22 times. Notre Dame-UConn is half a hundred, filled with tournament battles, conference throwdowns, animus and transcendent talent and coaching. McGraw used UConn as a measuring stick. The Irish measure up at last. Who needs civility? In 2014, Notre Dame and UConn became the first NCAA championship matchup of undefeated teams. UConn won that night. The Huskies beat the Irish for the title the next year, too, here in Tampa. Don’t think Notre Dame liked that. Don’t think UConn didn’t like that. Don’t think Auriemma doesn’t love giving the needle. Don’t think McGraw doesn’t hate losing more than she likes winning. So her team went out and won, avenging that December loss. Notre Dame came from nine points down in the fourth quarter and won behind Ogunbowale’s late scoring frenzy, as she hit big shots and free throws. “She really came alive in the second half,” McGraw said. Don’t forget the Irish forwards, Jessica Shepard’s 20 points and 13 rebounds and Brianna Turner’s 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. “They had more good players play better more than we did,” Auriemma said. “That’s just the way the world is.” The world again belonged to Notre Dame on Friday. It’s on to championship game for the Irish on Sunday night against Baylor. Me? I can’t wait for Round 51. Contact Martin Fennelly at mfennelly@tampabay.com or (813) 731-8029. Follow @mjfennelly.<doc-sep>UConn took a 9-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Notre Dame came storming back and took down the Huskies 81-76. (1:14) TAMPA, Fla. -- Brianna Turner was watching this spectacle -- the top rivalry in women's basketball -- last year when her Notre Dame teammates knocked off UConn in overtime in the Women's Final Four. This year, Turner was right in the midst of the Fighting Irish tearing the Huskies' hearts out again. The Irish senior, who had to sit out last season after an ACL injury suffered in the 2017 NCAA tournament, came up huge Friday as Notre Dame beat UConn 81-76 to advance to Sunday's title game against Baylor. It will be a rematch of the NCAA final in 2012, when the Irish also beat the Huskies in the national semifinals. In fact, even though UConn still leads the all-time series with the Irish 37-13, Notre Dame is 5-3 against the Huskies in the Women's Final Four. It took guard Arike Ogunbowale's big shot in the extra period to win for the Irish last year, and she was key again Friday with a team-high 23 points. Fourteen of those came in the final period. Women's Tournament Challenge Check out Tournament Challenge for live updates with a chance to win $5,000 in Amazon.com gift cards! "I don't think it was any mystery who was going to be taking the majority of their shots in the fourth quarter," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "That's the way they've always played since Arike has been there. "She still has to make those shots, and she did. She's an almost impossible matchup one-on-one, you know. We knew that going in." But Turner was as important as any Irish player, becoming her school's all-time leading shot-blocker (371) in the process, topping Ruth Riley-Hunter, who led the Irish to the 2001 national championship and who will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. That's good company to be in for Turner, who finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots, including a key block against UConn's Napheesa Collier in the final minute. "My only mindset was that UConn's season had to end tonight, no matter what it took," Turner said. Notre Dame's Brianna Turner finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots, including a key block against UConn's Napheesa Collier in the final minute. AP Photo/John Raoux It did, but the Irish's vaunted offense had to come through in the fourth quarter when it looked as if the Huskies had taken control, going up nine with 7:52 left. Notre Dame can score like lightning can strike: suddenly and often. The Irish did that. "We lost our heads for a couple minutes at the beginning of the fourth, took a couple of bad shots, didn't get stops, didn't communicate," said Irish senior Marina Mabrey, who had 12 points and 12 assists. "But I was saying, 'We need to get one stop, then one score, then it will go from there. Keep battling." Notre Dame went on an 11-2 run, which included 3-pointers from Jackie Young, Ogunbowale and Mabrey. When Mabrey's trey swished with 4:25 left to make it 66-66, we once again were in for thrilling finish between these two teams. They've been the consistent best of women's basketball over the past several years, with all of their meetings taking on the feeling of not just a game but an event. We were expecting quite a floor show on Friday. While it wasn't that for the first half, as both teams struggled offensively, the payoff was rich in the second half. The Irish went up 76-73 with 58.3 seconds left on two Ogunbowale free throws. After Collier's shot was blocked by Turner, Ogunbowale went to the foul line again and made both, putting the Irish up 78-73. UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson then missed, and Turner got the rebound. Turner missed both foul shots, though, and UConn called timeout with 23 seconds left, down 79-73. Samuelson missed another 3-pointer, and Turner finished off the game with two free throws. "She's really long and athletic, and she's a player that alters shots when she's in there," Collier said of Turner. "And they are a great offensive team. It is hard to have the lead by nine and then lose the game." The starters provided all of Notre Dame's points, with Jessica Shepard (20) and Young (11) joining Ogunbowale, Turner and Mabrey in double figures. While the Irish were dancing their happy jig again, there were tears in UConn's locker room. Samuelson finished the game with 20 points, all coming in the second half. Collier had 15 points and 13 rebounds. They finished their careers in the top five all-time at UConn in scoring; Collier third with 2,401 and Samuelson fifth with 2,342. UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson struggled early but finished the game with 20 points, all in the second half. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports But Samuelson and Collier won just one NCAA title, as freshmen. And Samuelson, who was injured in the 2016 semifinals and couldn't play in the final that year, ends her career without ever getting to play in a national championship game. "That's my best friend," Samuelson said of Collier. "These four years have really been amazing. It's pretty sad that we're not going get to play again together. We've been through so much here. I just wish we could have pulled it out for UConn nation." Collier and Samuelson lost just five games total in their careers. Three were in the NCAA semifinals, with Friday's disappointment following the losses to Notre Dame last year and to Mississippi State in 2017. "We wanted to get to a championship so badly," Collier said. "I'm really proud of everything that we've been able to do this year. It wasn't easy. The fact that we were able to push through and get here is a great accomplishment, and I think we do need to sit back and acknowledge that." But certainly after losing a lead in the fourth quarter, Auriemma and the Huskies have to be bitterly disappointed.<doc-sep>TAMPA, Fla. — After Notre Dame defeated Connecticut in the Final Four on Friday, Coach Muffet McGraw, wearing a shirt as shiny as the university’s Golden Dome, did a jig of sorts on the court. There were plenty of reasons to celebrate after the Irish advanced to their second straight N.C.A.A. women’s basketball title game. [Read about Baylor’s win over the Oregon Ducks.] Once again, they had upended the game’s longtime powerhouse in a national semifinal. In a Final Four classic last year, Notre Dame beat UConn on a last-second overtime shot by Arike Ogunbowale. Friday’s 81-76 win for the Irish was a fitting encore, with similar back-and-forth drama.<doc-sep>Notre Dame knocked out UConn again in what was a rematch of last season’s Final Four classic, as the defending champion Irish rallied from a nine-point, fourth quarter deficit to top the Huskies 81-76 Friday night in Tampa, Fla., to advance to their second straight title game. Notre Dame (35-3) will defend the national title against Baylor in the championship Sunday night. MARCH MADNESS RUGS BECOME HOT NCAA TEAM SOUVENIR DURING TOURNAMENT TIME, REPORT SAYS The Irish trailed 64-55 early in the fourth quarter before going on a hot streak, scoring 13 of the next 16 to take the lead 68-66. The two teams went on to trade the lead five times over the next few minutes, delivering on what many consider to be the greatest rivalry in women’s basketball over the past decade. A jumper from Jessica Shepard put the Irish ahead 75-74 with 1:27 left on the clock. Arike Ogunbowale hit two free throws to push their lead to three points with less than a minute to go. Ogunbowale, who put the Huskies down last year with a game-winning, last-second shot, hit another two free throws to make it a five-point game. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw danced a little jig at midcourt after the comeback victory. UConn (35-3) has lost three straight years in the Final Four, a first for the team. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While the star matchup of Ogunbowale and Connecticut’s Katie Lou Samuelson was nonexistent in the first half, it boiled over in the second. Ogunbowale scored 23 points, 14 of those in the final quarter, while Samuelson scored 20 points — all in the second half. With Baylor’s 72-67 win over Oregon in the first semifinal, the battle for the crown will be a rematch of the 2012 national championship game the Lady Bears won 80-61 over the Irish. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
TAMPA, Fla. -- For the second straight year, Notre Dame beat UConn in the Women's Final Four. Friday's 81-76 win put the defending NCAA champion Irish in the title game against Baylor on Sunday. Here's how Notre Dame won. Turner helps Irish come out on top Women's Tournament Challenge Check out Tournament Challenge for live updates with a chance to win $5,000 in Amazon.com gift cards! Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw has repeatedly said that senior Brianna Turner is the anchor of the Irish defense. Those words proved prophetic in Friday's win. Turner made the biggest defensive play of the night, and of her career, with 49 seconds left and the Irish clinging to a 76-73 lead. UConn's Napheesa Collier had what looked to be an easy layup, but Turner moved back across the lane and extended her arm to block the shot and snag the loose ball. Arike Ogunbowale hit two free throws at the other end and Notre Dame was finally clear of the Huskies in a game that featured 26 lead changes. The block was Turner's fifth of the game and 371st of her career, moving her past Ruth Riley on the school's all-time list. Turner, who missed all of last season to rehab a torn ACL as Notre Dame won its second national championship, was a force all night, with 15 points and 15 rebounds. She was effective in limiting Collier, especially in the second half. UConn's leading scorer managed only four points after halftime. The win was not only Notre Dame's second straight in the Final Four against UConn, it was the Irish's ninth in the past 10 seasons over the Huskies. The rest of Division I has only eight. Brianna Turner blocked Napheesa Collier's layup attempt with 49 seconds left and Notre Dame leading 76-73. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Arike does it again It wasn't the buzzer-beating heroics of last year's Final Four, but Ogunbowale once again delivered in the second half. The senior scored only two points on 1-of-7 shooting in what was a bad shooting display in the first half for both teams. She finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Second-half awakenings are a habit for Ogunbowale. In last year's Final Four, she scored five and two points in the first half against UConn and Mississippi State, respectively, but ended those games with 22 and 16 points, including buzzer-beating winning shots in both. Samuelson doesn't go quietly While fellow senior Collier struggled in the second half of her final college game, Katie Lou Samuelson was brilliant. After a scoreless first half, Samuelson produced 20 points, including three 3-pointers, after halftime on 7-of-12 shooting. The Huskies struggled from beyond the arc most of the night, but Samuelson gave them a boost. With 7:51 to play, UConn took a 64-55 lead after a 10-3 run that began with a Samuelson 3-pointer. Samuelson and Collier finish their UConn careers with only five career losses -- but three of them came in the national semifinals the past three seasons. Those losses were by a total of nine points. Neither team shot well early Both teams struggled mightily on offense in the first half, mostly due to bad shooting. UConn was 2-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half. Notre Dame was 1-of-11. Frustrated with his team's offense as a whole, at one point late in the half, Geno Auriemma turned to his assistant coaches and said, "I have no idea what we are doing." Both teams were better in the second half, but the Huskies' 8-of-28 shooting from 3-point range for the game was still way off the 14 3-pointers they made against Louisville in the Elite Eight. Notre Dame, riding Ogunbowale's second half and a reemergence of Marina Mabrey, made 6-of-8 from beyond the arc after halftime. UConn outshot Notre Dame 42 percent to 39 percent from the field for the game, but the Irish outrebounded the Huskies 54-37 and scored 22 second-chance points, the second most the Huskies have given up this season. After just two points in the first half, senior Arike Ogunbowale finished with a game-high 23 points to help get Notre Dame back to the championship game. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Mabrey finally warms up With the most prolific offense in the country this season, Notre Dame prides itself on having five starters who average better than 13 points. But Mabrey's scoring had disappeared in the NCAA tournament; she totaled 12 points through the first four games.