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FORT WORTH, Texas — Notre Dame went into its Elite Eight matchup against the UConn women’s basketball team with a straightforward game plan: Shut down Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong.
In theory, keying in on the Huskies’ duo of first team All-Americans was a wise strategy. Then, Blanca Quinonez happened.
No. 1 UConn (38-0) was trailing the 6-seed Irish (25-11) 5-4 shortly after Quinonez checked in off the bench midway through the first quarter. Five minutes later, the freshman forward had 12 of Huskies’ 20 points, and the team was heading into the second quarter with a nine-point lead.
Strong and Fudd both struggled in the first half of Sunday’s 70-52 victory at Dickies Arena, but Quinonez did everything for UConn until the superstars hit their stride, from securing defensive boards to knocking down 3-pointers to facilitating opportunities for her teammates. She finished with just her second 20-point performance of the season and added team-high eight rebounds, three assists and a steal to earn her place on the Forth Worth 1 All-Region team.
“That’s the catch-22. We wanted to contain Sarah and Azzi, make it a really tough night, but we had to make sure no one else was a factor,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “Blanca was a big factor … She was the X-factor for them. We unfortunately let her loose, and she got going.”
Quinonez has been the breakout star of the tournament for the undefeated Huskies, averaging 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.5 steals — all up from her regular-season numbers — across the team’s four wins en route to the Final Four. The freshman said she still gets anxious before every game, but nerves have never shown when she has the ball is in her hands.
“I’m always nervous, because everything is new for me,” Quinonez said. “But by the time I get to the court, I just try to play basketball and have fun. I think it’s just my teammates … The confidence that they put in me and how they trust me and how we trust each other, it’s something that really makes me confident in going out there and doing what I need to do.”
Notre Dame had the film on Quinonez, but the Irish understandably weren’t expecting the freshman’s explosion Sunday. The first time the programs met this season on Jan. 19, Quinonez had eight points, a team-high five turnovers and hit just 36% from the field, including an 0-for-5 outing from 3-point range. In the Elite Eight, she shot 58% and went 4-for-8 beyond the arc.
“I’ve literally been telling her every day that she’s her, and she has to know that,” sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel said Sunday. “Being a freshman, this is her first time going through March, so see how well she’s been playing and how much confidence she has, I can’t even wait to see her as a senior. That’s going to be so crazy.”
The regular season was a rollercoaster for Quinonez, who stepped onto UConn’s campus for the first time when she began classes in August. The freshman was born in Ecuador, then moved to Italy by herself at age 13 to begin her professional basketball career. She had to miss the Huskies’ summer training session in June to complete her Italian high school graduation requirements. Before arriving in Storrs, Quinonez had only been to the United States once when she participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp in Phoenix in July 2024.
Quinonez’s consistency throughout the NCAA Tournament came as a pleasant surprise to coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma knew the freshman had the ability to alter games for the Huskies in the postseason, but he wasn’t sure how she would handle the overwhelming fanfare and intense pressure that comes with the March Madness experience.
“If you’ve never been in this environment, it’s hard to say, ‘Yeah, this is just another game,’ because she knows it’s not,” Auriemma said. “The regular season for her was a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of in-betweens, but each day in practice from November to now, she’s gotten better and she’s gotten more comfortable with what we’re doing. She sits on the bench and she pays attention, and she’s always on the attack … She plays with a poise and an aggressiveness that are a little more mature than her age.”
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In theory, keying in on the Huskies’ duo of first team All-Americans was a wise strategy. Then, Blanca Quinonez happened.
No. 1 UConn (38-0) was trailing the 6-seed Irish (25-11) 5-4 shortly after Quinonez checked in off the bench midway through the first quarter. Five minutes later, the freshman forward had 12 of Huskies’ 20 points, and the team was heading into the second quarter with a nine-point lead.
Strong and Fudd both struggled in the first half of Sunday’s 70-52 victory at Dickies Arena, but Quinonez did everything for UConn until the superstars hit their stride, from securing defensive boards to knocking down 3-pointers to facilitating opportunities for her teammates. She finished with just her second 20-point performance of the season and added team-high eight rebounds, three assists and a steal to earn her place on the Forth Worth 1 All-Region team.
“That’s the catch-22. We wanted to contain Sarah and Azzi, make it a really tough night, but we had to make sure no one else was a factor,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “Blanca was a big factor … She was the X-factor for them. We unfortunately let her loose, and she got going.”
Quinonez has been the breakout star of the tournament for the undefeated Huskies, averaging 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.5 steals — all up from her regular-season numbers — across the team’s four wins en route to the Final Four. The freshman said she still gets anxious before every game, but nerves have never shown when she has the ball is in her hands.
“I’m always nervous, because everything is new for me,” Quinonez said. “But by the time I get to the court, I just try to play basketball and have fun. I think it’s just my teammates … The confidence that they put in me and how they trust me and how we trust each other, it’s something that really makes me confident in going out there and doing what I need to do.”
Notre Dame had the film on Quinonez, but the Irish understandably weren’t expecting the freshman’s explosion Sunday. The first time the programs met this season on Jan. 19, Quinonez had eight points, a team-high five turnovers and hit just 36% from the field, including an 0-for-5 outing from 3-point range. In the Elite Eight, she shot 58% and went 4-for-8 beyond the arc.
“I’ve literally been telling her every day that she’s her, and she has to know that,” sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel said Sunday. “Being a freshman, this is her first time going through March, so see how well she’s been playing and how much confidence she has, I can’t even wait to see her as a senior. That’s going to be so crazy.”
The regular season was a rollercoaster for Quinonez, who stepped onto UConn’s campus for the first time when she began classes in August. The freshman was born in Ecuador, then moved to Italy by herself at age 13 to begin her professional basketball career. She had to miss the Huskies’ summer training session in June to complete her Italian high school graduation requirements. Before arriving in Storrs, Quinonez had only been to the United States once when she participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp in Phoenix in July 2024.
Quinonez’s consistency throughout the NCAA Tournament came as a pleasant surprise to coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma knew the freshman had the ability to alter games for the Huskies in the postseason, but he wasn’t sure how she would handle the overwhelming fanfare and intense pressure that comes with the March Madness experience.
“If you’ve never been in this environment, it’s hard to say, ‘Yeah, this is just another game,’ because she knows it’s not,” Auriemma said. “The regular season for her was a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of in-betweens, but each day in practice from November to now, she’s gotten better and she’s gotten more comfortable with what we’re doing. She sits on the bench and she pays attention, and she’s always on the attack … She plays with a poise and an aggressiveness that are a little more mature than her age.”
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