The 58th chapter in the historic Notre Dame vs. UConn women's basketball rivalry will be written Wednesday, Dec. 9 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend when head coach Niele Ivey's Irish host Geno Auriemma's Huskies. No tip-off time or broadcast channel has been announced.
It'll be a rematch of the 2026 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, where UConn advanced to the Final Four with a 70-52 victory in Fort Worth, Texas. When reigning Naismith Women's College Defensive Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo's Irish last played reigning Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Sarah Strong's Huskies in the regular season, the latter demolished the former 85-47 Jan. 19, 2026, in Storrs, Connecticut.
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This is now easily the toughest opponent on Notre Dame's non-conference schedule that also includes Villanova Nov. 1 in Rome, Italy, two of Davidson/Florida/West Virginia as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis at the end of November and Vanderbilt Dec. 3 in Nashville.
The last regular season in which the former Big East Conference rivals did not compete was 2013-14. UConn leads the all-time series 41-16, but the two are knotted at 5-5 in the last 10 meetings.
In terms of other potential non-conference games yet to be officially announced, the Irish are still yet to set a date, location or opponent for their annual Shamrock Classic. Last season, Notre Dame played the Michigan Wolverines at Wayne State University in Detroit.
This yearly game began in 2022 when Notre Dame battled the California Golden Bears in head coach Niele Ivey's hometown of St. Louis. Other opponents in the series' history include Illinois and UConn.
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame women's basketball set to play UConn December 9 in South Bend