If there's one thing that UConn players always expect from Notre Dame, it's this: The Irish will never back down, start to finish.
"They are a team that competes with us the entire game," UConn's Breanna Stewart said. "We can wear down most teams, but Notre Dame is going to stick with you."
However, that will take all the pluck of the Irish this Saturday (ESPN, 5:15 p.m. ET), when they meet the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut. Notre Dame's stellar sophomore Brianna Turner is out with a shoulder injury, and fellow post player Taya Reimer is uncertain to play because of an Achilles injury. The only interior starter left is sophomore Kathryn Westbeld.
So Notre Dame will be doing the leprechaun thing -- going small -- to try to topple the No. 1 team in the country. Before the season, coach Muffet McGraw said she expected the Irish to be more post-oriented now, especially after the early departure of guard Jewell Loyd to the WNBA. But injuries, as they so often do in sports, have caused the No. 3 Irish to alter tactics.
"Playing four guards is really great for our offense," McGraw said. "'Princeton' is a really good four-out offense. So I think that we have the stuff that we need, we just have to work together a little bit more in it."
Such is the grand coaching tradition of making lemonade when you're handed lemons. Understandable, of course. It's not as if McGraw is going to say, "Yeah, we're hosed without those two big kids," because surrender is not how Notre Dame became the only thing approaching a thorn in the Huskies' side in the past several years.
The Irish have done that because, as Stewart said, they compete the whole game with UConn. Certainly, it's helped that Notre Dame's talent level has been high, too.
"Their coaching staff is really, really good at taking advantage of the skill level they have," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I don't think they're any different this year, or will be next year. That's where they are now.
"A lot of teams that we play maybe offensively can't keep up with us. And for a number of years, they've had the ability to do that."
"A lot of teams that we play maybe offensively can't keep up with us. And for a number of years, they've had the ability to do that." Geno Auriemma on Notre Dame
But this season, does anyone really have the ability to beat UConn? Thus far, the gap between the Huskies and everyone else looks even bigger than expected. Admittedly, UConn led by just three points at halftime at DePaul on Wednesday, but they still pulled away for a 16-point victory.
UConn has won the past four games in this series with Notre Dame, which included two NCAA final victories in 2014 and '15. The Irish had a stretch before that where they won seven of eight over the Huskies, but somehow didn't win an NCAA title. Still, Notre Dame is riding a streak of five consecutive appearances in the Women's Final Four.
"I'm just so happy that we've been able to achieve what we have, and to reach our potential," McGraw said. "Some years, I don't think we were a Final Four team, but we got there. I don't think you can dwell on the bad things, you have to look back and appreciate what you've done, and count your blessings a little bit. And then just move on to the next year. Maybe that's why we keep getting back to the Final Four -- because we're motivated to get there."
"This culture started with Skylar [Diggins]. When she came in, she brought a new dimension in terms of the work ethic at practice. ... And her competitiveness just was contagious." Muffet McGraw on how the Irish once beat UConn in seven of eight games
There's also the fact that before beating the Huskies in the 2011 national semifinals -- which started the seven-of-eight streak -- the Irish had lost 12 in a row to UConn. What changed?
"I think the culture. This culture started with Skylar [Diggins]," McGraw said. "When she came in, she brought a new dimension in terms of the work ethic at practice. We've always had good work ethic, but she took it to the highest level possible. And her competitiveness just was contagious.
"We happened to have great people around her, too. It's so much more than talent; it's all about chemistry and the competitive spirit. People who are accountable. We got it all together, and from there it just continued to grow because Skylar made it happen. And when she graduated, Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa continued that."
Even with Loyd gone, the Irish link to Diggins' mindset -- from seniors such as Madison Cable and Michaela Mabrey, who competed with Diggins -- continues on. Realistically, especially with the injury situation, it will be tough for the Irish to stay with UConn. But if any program has the mentality to do it, it's Notre Dame.
"We had a lot of games against them in a short period of time," Auriemma said, "and that created a white-hot intensity."
That was when both schools were still in the Big East, of course, and battling for the conference title. Now, they're no longer in the same conference, which means this game is a little more like the old UConn-Tennessee matchup: a regular-season measuring stick, an indicator of what could be coming in the NCAA tournament.
"I think it's the history and the rivalry that started before I was even here," UConn senior guard Moriah Jefferson said of what makes the Notre Dame game special.
"Every time you go against them, you want to have your biggest game. It's hyped up around the country. But, all that said, you still try to block out the extra attention and go play it like it's a normal game."