Associated Press photo
Breanna Stewart celebrates during the Final Four win over Notre Dame. Not only did Stewart 
set a Connecticut record for points in an NCAA tournament game by a freshman by lighting up Notre Dmae for 29 but her 81 points broke teammate Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis' mark for points by a freshman in UConn history.

I have seen freshmen come to the Final Four and look like, well, freshmen so even though Breanna Stewart was brilliant in wins over Maryland and Kentucky in the two games played at Webster Bank Arena, I was still curious to see how she would react on the biggest stage.

After getting pulled from the game early on, Stewart was able to return and have as good of a game as any UConn - freshman, sophomore, junior or senior - has had in the national semifinals.

Stewart hit so many key shots and more than a few of them that probably could come with a degree of difficult that it was something to behold.

Stewart scored inside, she scored outside and she also was 5 of 5 from the free-throw line in the 83-65 win over Notre Dame.


“I think this postseason I have really gained a lot more confidence and today was a game I was looking forward to playing, all of us where,” Stewart said.

Stewart scored in every way imaginable as she was 4 of 5 from 3-point range, 6 of 9 from inside the arc and 5 of 5 from the foul line.

“She is peaking at the right time, well not really peaking because she is going to keep going up but she is blossoming at the right time,” said UConn freshman forward Morgan Tuck. “I have seen her play like this a lot of times, she is out there, not really thinking and is playing her game. I am so proud of her and so happy for her what she did in her first game in the Final Four.  ”A lot of people say that as a freshman it is hard to play and she did. She went out there with no nerves and like it is a regular game and she just dominated.”

Stewart earn Most Outstanding Player honors in the Bridgeport Regional but as it turns out, she was just getting warmed up.


"She definitely has changed her mentality, she is more confident now," Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. "She is doing all the things that we knew she was capable of all season and I am proud of her.

"It is insane," Mosqueda-Lewis said of Stewart's performance. "The adrenaline is rushing out there and when she makes a big play it just makes momentum so that much more for our team. It is special to play with somebody like that, somebody with so much ability, so much talent and be willing to give up so much for our team."