UNC HC Raves About Sarah Strong After UConn's Sweet 16 Win
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The UConn Huskies, in their Sweet 16 game, went up against North Carolina and won 63-42. Despite an unfortunate shooting night, the Huskies took control after halftime, outscoring North Carolina 20-5 in the third quarter to break the game open.
The Huskies forced 17 turnovers while committing just seven and turned those mistakes into a 13-9 edge in fast-break points.UConn led for over 32 minutes and pushed the margin to as much as 25, dominating inside with a 36-24 edge in points in the paint.
And one of the main reasons the Huskies were able to do that, despite shooting 4-for-20 from the 3-point line, is Sarah Strong. The UConn forward finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
Strong was disrupting, rebounding, and making the right play whenever the game called for it. And no doubt, that has become a Strong routine. In fact, soon after the game, the North Carolina head coach, Courtney Banghart, had something to say about playing Strong.
“She’s just such a hard guard. I mean, I love the kid. I love who she is at her core. I love her family, but I really love her as a basketball player. She’s so fun to watch. And she’s a problem, right? She hurt us in off-ball action. She hurt us in on-ball action. She’s so unselfish. And if she wants to score 40 next game, she can. She gets to make that choice, right?” started Banghart.
Banghart is not wrong. Through three NCAA tournament games, Strong is averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.7 steals while shooting over 56% from the field. Across the full season, she’s at 18.4 points per game on an efficient 60% shooting clip.
Banghart also went on to add, “I’ve said it multiple times, but coming in second for Sarah Strong is a tough one to come in second for, right? But when you recruit someone with all you've got, you root for them wherever they go. So I’m leading the Sarah Strong fan club, and I hope she continues to be able to find the success that she’s earning.”
Notre Dame awaits as UConn heads into the Elite Eight.
Next up, UConn will face Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. This will be the ninth NCAA tournament meeting between the programs, and the 56th overall matchup in the past 30 years. UConn leads the all-time series 39-16 and already beat Notre Dame 85-47 earlier this season. However, both teams have changed since then, making this matchup harder to predict.
Notre Dame is coming in with momentum after a close win over Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16. The Fighting Irish are leaning heavily on their star guard, Hannah Hidalgo, who has been one of the most productive players in the tournament. She’s averaging 26.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.7 steals this postseason.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.