When I left the XL Center Monday night, I said that the DePaul/Notre Dame was the best game in the Big East tournament. Perhaps I should have added the words "up until that point."

The last couple of Big East finals have been duds as UConn defeated Louisville and West Virginia by an average of 33 1/2 points per game. Even during UConn's 65-59 win over Louisville in the 2008 final, there was never the sense that the Huskies were in danger of losing.

The same could not be said on Tuesday night. Even when Maya Moore scored six early points in the second half, all it did was put UConn up by three. When freshmen Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley combined for eight points in an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 12, Notre Dame was not discouraged.

Despite hyperextending her left knee, Natalie Novosel scored seven straight puts to bring the Fighting Irish back within three. That was when Moore and Dolson went back to work. Moore's basket made it a five-point lead and then came perhaps the play of the game. Moore missed a rushed shot and Dolson somehow corraled the rebound between a pair of ND players and scored. She scored the next four points and UConn fans could finally exhale as the Huskies went onto a 73-64 win and a record 17th Big East title.

"We needed every person to contribute tonight," Moore said. "I thought we did a really good job, especially in the second half of hitting big shots, running out offense and executing. It took all of us so I am really proud of the way everybody stepped up.

"It's been the most difficult year but we have shown some resilience. Overcoming some odds and being mentally tougher than people probably thought we would be, finding a way to win."

Moore finished with 22 points and her six early points were huge in allowing UConn to get settled in early in the second half. She moved into ninth on the NCAA's all-time scoring list. Down the stretch, it was Dolson who took over despite playing all 40 minutes for the first time in her UConn career.

"The thing where I have progressed the most is just my mentality, playing as hard as I can and not focusing on how tired I am," said Dolson, wh had 24 points in the game and a UConn freshman tournament record 60 in the three games. "There was one timeout when I was so exhausted but CD (UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey) talked to me and I had to fight through it because we don't have a lot of depth."

Had the all-tournament voted been cast with about two minutes to play, Dolson was almost certainly have been named the tournament's most outstanding performer. But with the votes being cast before the final media timeout, it was pretty much a toss up between Dolson and Moore for MOP honors. In that case, the veteran Moore would out over the upstart Dolson. Neither player seemed too concerned with how the voting turned out.

Now the team gets some time off the recover both mentally and physically after surviving three games in three days against three of the most physical teams in the Big East. UConn should be the No. 1 overall seed when the NCAA pairings are announced on Monday.


There are video interviews of Moore and Dolson posted on the Register's site.