UConn 70, Notre Dame 52. The Huskies will play in the Final Four. This is not news, exactly — it is the natural conclusion of a sequence that began when UConn won the national championship last April and continued through an undefeated regular season that left the field looking at the Huskies the way mountain towns look at incoming weather: with awareness that the question is not whether it arrives, but how hard. [1][2]

Notre Dame gave the game its best shape for one half. The Fighting Irish, a No. 6 seed with a physical style and a defensive scheme built around disrupting UConn's ball movement, trailed by only seven at halftime — 33-26 — in an environment where the possibility of something unexpected felt, if not likely, at least entertained. [1][3]

The second half removed the entertainment. UConn's guards found their rhythm, the defensive scheme that had given the Huskies' ball handlers trouble in the first half stopped working against a team willing to simply be more precise, and Notre Dame's shooting cooled. UConn outscored the Irish 37-26 in the second half. The final eighteen-point margin is not the game's truest representation — the Irish played well — but it is an accurate representation of the gap between the two programs as currently constructed. [2][3]

Paige Bueckers, who missed significant time last season with a knee injury and spent most of the regular season demonstrating that the injury had not touched what she is, finished with 22 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. The statistics are adequate proxies for what she actually did, which was to play with the relaxed authority of someone who has already done this before and expects to do it again. She has done it before. She expects to do it again. [2]

Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey was generous about the loss in a way that reflected genuine understanding of the situation. "They are the best team in the country," she said. "We knew that going in and we played to compete, not just to participate. We competed. It wasn't enough." The Irish leave the tournament having won three games, beaten opponents they were supposed to beat, and lost to the team that has made the tournament's outcome a formality for the second consecutive year. [3]

For UConn, the win completed a dominant run through the Fort Worth Regional. The Huskies are the last team standing in their bracket, entering the Final Four having won every game by at least twelve points. Their margin of victory over Notre Dame — eighteen — was their smallest of the tournament. The Final Four is in Indianapolis on April 4. The opposition will have a week to prepare. It is unclear whether preparation is the variable that determines the outcome when UConn is involved. [1][2]

The broader significance of UConn's sustained dominance is a conversation the sport continues to have with itself. Dynasties are good for certain things — they establish standards, create defining performances, give fans a reliable reference point for greatness. They are less good for other things, including unpredictability and the particular joy that comes from not knowing what will happen. Virginia's win over Iowa on March 23 provided that joy. UConn's wins have provided something else: the pleasure of watching one of the most cohesive teams in women's basketball history operate at or near its ceiling, consistently, across a full season. Both kinds of pleasure belong to the sport. The Final Four will have both.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, New York