Moore, Connecticut beat Notre Dame for Big East title

HARTFORD, Conn. — Maya Moore’s final Big East championship was the most gratifying of her outstanding career.

Moore, who has never lost in the conference tournament, scored 22 points to help No. 1 Connecticut beat 10th-ranked Notre Dame 73-64 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight Big East championship.

“It’s been definitely the most difficult year, but we have shown some resiliency,” she said. “I think overcoming some odds and being mentally tougher than people thought we’d be. Finding a way to win going through the regular season and being consistent enough to win all those games.”

Even though she earned her second outstanding player award of the Big East tournament, Moore would have cast her vote for freshman Stefanie Dolson, who led the Huskies with 24 points on Tuesday night.

“I told her she was my MVP,” said Moore, who gave Dolson a giant bear hug as the final buzzer sounded. “Just the way she stayed aggressive, stayed confident and finished so well inside for us.”

Dolson played all 40 minutes and matched her career high for points that she set two days earlier against Georgetown. Her development has been key in UConn’s success this season.

UConn (32-1) has won 20 straight games since losing to Stanford on Dec. 30 to snap the Huskies’ record 90-game winning streak. It was the 21st time in the past 23 seasons that they were in the championship game.

The Huskies have won 17 Big East championships overall.

While UConn has been a frequent visitor to the tournament title game, Notre Dame was making its first trip to the championship since 2001 when the Irish lost to UConn on a buzzer-beater by Sue Bird.

The Irish still have yet to win a championship in five tries.

Natalie Novosel scored 17 points to lead Notre Dame (26-7) while Skylar Diggins added 14.

A big bright spot for Notre Dame was the play of freshman Natalie Achonwa, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the title game.