NASHVILLE — The Connecticut Huskies made another undefeated team look like everyone else they’ve played this season.
It took a lockdown defensive performance in the second half for UConn to dismiss Notre Dame as another double-digit victim of defeat.
With their 79-58 victory Tuesday night, the Huskies also surpassed Tennessee with their ninth NCAA championship and matched Baylor’s 40-0 NCAA record season performance in 2012.
UConn accomplished the feat near the Middle Tennessee stomping grounds of retired Lady Vols coaching legend Pat Summitt. But Geno Auriemma — who now stands one title away from tying John Wooden — shrugged off that geographical footnote.
“Where it happens doesn’t have any significance for me,” Auriemma said. “That’s never entered my mind. What it means is that we’ve done something no one else has ever done.”
Summitt issued a statement to the Associated Press congratulating UConn and complimenting Auriemma for his record title, which “he has accomplished in record time.”
UConn won its first title in 1995. Since claiming their second crown in 2000, the Huskies have been national champions a total of eight times in the last 15 seasons.
Five of those titles, including this one, have been in undefeated fashion.
And in a scenario that had never before taken place — two undefeated teams competing for a Division I national championship — the Huskies pulled away in trademark fashion.
They easily held Notre Dame (37-1), which had been averaging 86.8 points a game, to its lowest scoring mark of the season. Only 20 of those points came after halftime.
In the handshake line after the game, Fighting Irish coach Muffet McGraw briefly chatted with Auriemma — with whom she’s exchanged quite a few barbs in the post-season.
“I said something like I thought we were playing the Miami Heat for a while; you guys are just that good,” she said. “I thought they were just missing LeBron.” 
But the trio of national player of the year Breanna Stewart, All-American Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis were more than enough for Notre Dame to handle.
All three cleaned up in the paint against an Irish lineup missing Natalie Achonwa, who tore an ACL against Baylor in the Elite Eight, scoring 52 points there to just 22 for Notre Dame.
“When we realized what kind of advantage we had, we just kept pushing it to them,” Dolson said.
After building a 14-point lead in the first half, Notre Dame charged back, cutting the deficit to 43-38 thanks to perimeter shooting. But after the break, UConn went on an 8-2 run and frustrated Irish All-American Kayla McBride, who scored 21 but had only eight in the final 20 minutes.
“I just think we came out undermatched,” McBride said. “I don’t think anything could have changed to change that.”
It’s a familiar refrain for a foe vanquished by Connecticut, even an opponent that was thought to be as good as any the Huskies have faced in the finals.
Despite the final scoring margin, Auriemma repeated his claim that Notre Dame is the best team UConn has played this season.
“Our defense today was incredible,” he said. “To hold that team to 20 points in the second half — that’s incredible.”
Stewart scored 21 points, had nine rebounds and had four assists. Dolson’s stat line was just as impressive: 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in her final college game. Once Mosqueda-Lewis heated up, Notre Dame couldn’t find a defensive solution, even throwing out a triangle-and-two that didn’t have much effect.
“Stefanie Dolson had the game of her life,” Auriemma said.
He was unusually emotional when he took her out and fellow senior Bria Hartley, and recalled their first games as freshmen.
UConn had won its 79th game in a row on its way to breaking the UCLA men’s record of 88, a streak that was snapped three games later at 90.
“I can’t think of two people that have given every ounce of their energy and everything that they possibly have to give for the basketball program and the people at the University of Connecticut,” Auriemma said.
Among the many astounding feats and numbers to consider when pondering Auriemma’s expanding legacy, he’s 9-0 in national championship games.
“There’s not much to explain about it,” Dolson said of UConn’s superior play in title games. “You come into every year knowing you have one ultimate goal, which is to win the national championship.
“When you get there you’re so prepared that there’s no other ending than winning.”
