At the time of publication, Connecticut and Notre Dame were two of the more successful college women's basketball programs.

[4] Both teams would also meet in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, with Notre Dame prevailing and then going on to win the national championship.

Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Shea Ralph, Maria Conlon, Kelly Schumacher, Kennitra Johnson, and Tamika Williams played for the UConn team, under the coaching of Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma.

[7] Ericka Haney, Kelley Siemon, Ruth Riley, Alicia Ratay, Niele Ivey, Le'Tania Severe, Jeneka Joyce, and Amanda Barksdale played for the Notre Dame team, under the coaching of the 2001 National Coach of the year[8] Muffet McGraw.

[7] Svetlana Abrosimova did not play in the featured game, as she sustained an injury in a win over Tennessee on February 1, 2001 that ended her college career.

Ralph, who never played after graduating from UConn due to multiple knee injuries, was an assistant under Auriemma from 2008 until being hired in 2021 as head coach at Vanderbilt.

From the moment he walked outside Gampel Pavilion, turned to former Courant sports writer Matt Eagan, the beat guy at the time, and said, ' I think we just saw the best women's basketball game ever played,' this was in the back of Goldberg's mind.

"[14] Jacobs noted the dual nature of the game—the positive, a well-played game important to both teams at the time, and the negative, the career-ending injury to Shea Ralph.

He followed up with Sue Bird, who found the book intriguing herself, as it reminded her of things that she hadn't remembered, such as helping Shea Ralph up when she was injured.