game in the evening would pit two undefeated teams—UConn, ranked No. 1 in the country with a 16–0 record and Notre Dame, ranked No. 3 in the country, with a 15–0 record. Despite the closeness of the rankings, and records, the game would not be close. UConn pulled out to a 42–19 halftime lead, and coasted to a 24-point victory, winning 70–46. Tina Charles had a double-double (23 points, 13 rebounds), leading ESPN's Mechelle Voepel to call Charles "another one of UConn's all-time greats". UConn continued their undefeated season with a win over Villanova, 74–35. This marked the first ever start for senior Meghan Gardler. While seniors traditionally get a starting role on senior day, the Villanova game was played near Gardler's hometown of Springfield Pennsylvania. Many friends and family members were at the game to see her play. The team, which normally would travel by plane to Pennsylvania, took the train, just for the experience. Rutgers is known for its defense, but UConn's defense would prove to be superior, as UConn held Rutgers to 36 points, while scoring 73. Rutgers was the last team to beat UConn in the regular season, winning at their home in 2008, but on this day, the results would not be close. UConn next played Pittsburgh, but the story of the game was not the game result, which UConn won easily. 98–56, but the benchmark reached by Tina Charles, as she became only the sixth player in UConn history to score 2,000 points in her career. The next conference opponent, West Virginia would be ranked No. 8 in the country at the time of the game, but had already faced strong teams this season, and had beaten West Virginia by 30 points in the previous year. This year's final score of 80–47 would produce a wider margin, but with a halftime margin of only 12, and a lead dropping to single-digits a few minutes into the second half, the game outcome appeared more in doubt than the final score would indicate. The last time Connecticut played Louisville, it was for the national championship in April 2009. That game wasn't close, but this one would be less of a challenge. UConn tripled Louisville's first half scoring, leading to a 54–18 first half score, and cruised to a final score of 84–38. DePaul was within nine points almost 15 minutes into the game, but Tiffany Hayes