#2 Irish And #5 Duke Meet Tuesday In NCAA Elite Eight

April 1, 2013

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2012-13 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 36

NCAA Championship — Norfolk Regional Final
#2/2 [#1 seed] Notre Dame Fighting Irish (34-1 / 16-0 BIG EAST) vs. #5/5 [#2 seed] Duke Blue Devils (33-2 / 17-1 ACC)

DATE: April 2, 2013
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Norfolk, Va. – Ted Constant Convocation Ctr. (8,600)
SERIES: ND leads 5-1
1ST MTG: ND 74-67 (3/22/86)
LAST MTG: ND 56-54 (11/26/11)
TV: ESPN/ESPNHD/WatchESPN (live) (Dave O’Brien, p-b-p / Stephanie White, color / Jeannine Edwards, sideline)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @ndwbbsid
TICKETS: (757) 683-4444/odusports.com/tickets

Storylines

• Notre Dame has advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third consecutive season and fifth time in program history.
• The Fighting Irish are 11-1 against ranked opponents this season, including a 5-1 record against top-10 teams.

No. 2 Fighting Irish And No. 5 Duke Meet Tuesday In NCAA Elite Eight
Following a balanced offensive performance in its NCAA regional semifinal, No. 2 (and top-seeded) Notre Dame has moved on to the NCAA Norfolk Regional final, where it will take on No. 5 (and second-seeded) Duke at 7 p.m. (ET) Tuesday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. The game will be televised live to a national cable audience on ESPN, ESPNHD and WatchESPN.

The Fighting Irish (34-1) are returning to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third year in a row after a comprehensive 93-63 win over Kansas on Sunday afternoon in Norfolk. Notre Dame spotted the Jayhawks an early four-point lead, but a 12-0 Fighting Irish run midway through the first half put them in the driver’s seat and they steadily pulled away the rest of the game.

Senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins scored 22 of her game-high 27 points in the first half, adding a game-best nine assists for good measure. Junior forward Natalie Achonwa chipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds for her school-record 18th double-double of the year.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is No. 2 in the latest Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
• Duke is No. 5 in the latest Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.

Quick Hitters

• Notre Dame has advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight (regional final) for the third consecutive season and fifth time in program history. The Fighting Irish are one of four teams to reach the Elite Eight the past three years (others are Connecticut, Duke and Tennessee).
• The Fighting Irish have won their three games in this year’s NCAA Championship by an average of 26.7 points per game.
• Notre Dame swept the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles, the first school other than Connecticut to win both crowns in the same season since 1992-93, when Miami (Fla.) did so.
• The Fighting Irish won their first BIG EAST postseason championship this year, and first conference tournament title of any kind since the 1994 Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) crown.
• Notre Dame completed BIG EAST play with a perfect 16-0 record, just the second undefeated conference season in school history and first since 1989-90 (MCC/Horizon League). The Fighting Irish also were the first BIG EAST team other than Connecticut to run the table in league play since 2005-06 (Rutgers) and only the third all-time (the other being Miami-Fla., 18-0 in 1991-92).
• Notre Dame was the first BIG EAST school other than Connecticut to earn back-to-back outright conference regular season titles since Rutgers (2004-05 and 2005-06) and only the third in league history (Miami-Fla. did so in 1991-92 and 1992-93).
• The Fighting Irish are 11-1 against ranked opponents this year, having won their last nine games against Top 25 teams. Notre Dame also is 5-1 against top-10 squads, with its lone blemish coming on Dec. 5 at Purcell Pavilion against No. 3 Baylor, 73-61 (a game Notre Dame led 50-49 with less than eight minutes left).
• The Fighting Irish made history with their Jan. 28 win at Tennessee, becoming the first program ever to defeat both Connecticut and UT in three consecutive seasons, as well as the first in the NCAA era (since 1981-82) to defeat both the Huskies and Lady Vols on the road in the same season.
• Notre Dame is in the midst of a school record 29-game winning streak, topping the 23-game season-opening run set in 2000-01. It’s also ties the second-longest winning streak in any fully-sponsored NCAA Championship sport in the 126-year history of Fighting Irish athletics (from 1965-67, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team won 29 consecutive matches, while the 2001 softball squad won 33 in a row).
• In those 29 games since its only loss of the season (Dec. 5 vs. third-ranked Baylor), Notre Dame has averaged 82.7 points per game (winning by 24.3 ppg.), shot .464 from the field (.352 from three-point range), posted a rebound margin of +12.3 per game, and forced opponents into an average of 19.8 turnovers per night.
• According to Sunday’s NCAA statistical report, the Fighting Irish were ranked sixth or better in seven categories — free throw percentage (2nd – now .802), scoring offense (3rd – 81.5 ppg.), scoring margin (3rd – +23.4 ppg.), assists (3rd – 19.5 apg.), rebounding margin (3rd – +11.4 rpg.), field goal percentage (5th – .460) and assist/turnover ratio (6th – 1.27).
• Notre Dame has shown remarkably balanced offensive production this season, with 10 of the 11 players on the roster having scored in double figures at least once, including five different players who have scored 20 points in a game.
• The Fighting Irish have set a school record with three 100-point games this season. The highlight came on Dec. 31 at home against Saint Francis (Pa.) in a 128-55 victory, marking the highest offensive output by any NCAA Division I team this season (and matching the highest by any D-I program since 2002 – Notre Dame also scored 128 points last year at Mercer).
• With its No. 2 ranking in the final Associated Press poll on March 18, Notre Dame has appeared in the media poll for 116 consecutive weeks, extending a program record that dates back to the 2007-08 preseason poll. In fact, every current Fighting Irish player has competed for a ranked Notre Dame squad during her career, with the vast majority of that time (66 of 77 weeks) spent in the AP Top 10.
• With 625 victories in her 26 seasons at Notre Dame, head coach Muffet McGraw ranks second on the Fighting Irish athletics all-time coaching wins list (across all sports), trailing only men’s/women’s fencing coach Michael DeCicco (774-80 from 1962-95). Sadly, DeCicco (who led Notre Dame to five NCAA titles during his career) passed away March 29 from congestive heart failure at the age of 85.
• McGraw became the 13th coach in NCAA Division I history to amass 700 victories (and the eighth-fastest to reach the mark, doing so in 957 career games), registering the milestone win on Feb. 5 at Villanova. McGraw also is the third BIG EAST Conference head coach to hit that landmark, along with C. Vivian Stringer (Rutgers) and Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), both of whom are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Other Notre Dame Notables

• Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past 17 seasons (1996-97 to present), ranking fourth with 443 victories.
• Notre Dame has ranked among the top 20 in the nation in average attendance annually since 2000-01 (including top-five rankings the past three years), and is poised to do so again this year, ranking sixth in the nation with a school-record 8,979 fans per game, topping last year’s mark (8,571) and setting a new school record for the fourth year in a row. The Fighting Irish also have drawn at least 5,000 fans to 190 of their last 192 home games (including an active streak of 33 consecutive contests with 8,000 fans), logging 36 Purcell Pavilion sellouts, including 30 in the past four seasons. Notre Dame also had a school-record 11 sellouts this year, including nine of its final 10 contests at Purcell Pavilion.
• The Fighting Irish have become a regular fixture in the WNBA Draft in recent years, as nine Notre Dame players have been selected in the past 12 seasons. Devereaux Peters and Natalie Novosel were the most recent Fighting Irish players to be chosen, with both going in the first round (Peters third overall to Minnesota; Novosel eighth overall to Washington) of the 2012 WNBA Draft. Last year’s draft marked the first time Notre Dame has had two first-round picks in the same year, while Peters was the highest-drafted player (and first lottery selection) in program history. Ruth Riley (Chicago) was active in the league during the ’12 season, helping the Sky contend for a playoff berth into the final weeks of the season. Three of Notre Dame’s 10 all-time WNBA alums have won a total of four league championships — Riley won a pair of crowns with the Detroit Shock (2003 Finals MVP, 2006), Coquese Washington toiled for the 2000 Houston Comets, while Jacqueline Batteast was Riley’s teammate on the 2006 title-winning squad in Detroit. Peters nearly joined that list in 2012, helping Minnesota return to the WNBA Finals, but the Lynx could not defend their title, falling to Indiana in four games.
• For the sixth year in a row, the Fighting Irish posted a perfect 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to figures released by the NCAA in October. What’s more, Notre Dame was one of only four schools in the previous five years to record a 100-percent GSR and play for a national championship in the same season (and the only program to do it twice, pulling off that feat in 2011 and 2012).

The Notre Dame-Duke Series
Notre Dame and Duke will be meeting for the seventh time on Tuesday night, with the Fighting Irish holding a 5-1 edge in the series with the Blue Devils, including an active three-game winning streak. Notre Dame also is 2-0 against Duke when playing at neutral sites.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Duke Met
Natalie Novosel couldn’t have had much worse of a first half for Notre Dame. The senior guard missed nine of her 10 shots and just wasn’t in sync on offense.

Yet she didn’t stop shooting, banking in a shot from the foul line with under a second left to lift the No. 4/3 Fighting Irish to a 56-54 win over No. 7/6 Duke in the Junkanoo Jam Freeport Division final on Nov. 26, 2011, at St. Georges High School in Freeport, Bahamas.

Junior guard Skylar Diggins scored a game-high 19 points and added eight rebounds, while Novosel had 15 for the Fighting Irish, who rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit and an 18-point hole early in the second half.

Elizabeth Williams had 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks for Duke.

Trailing 54-51 with 1:35 left, the Fighting Irish had three chances to tie the game, but missed three three-pointers. Sophomore guard Kayla McBride got fouled on an offensive rebound and made the first of two free throws to cut the deficit to two.

After Chelsea Gray missed a shot for Duke on the other end, the rebound was tipped out to Diggins, who raced all the way in and scored to tie it at 54 with 13.9 seconds left. Shay Selby missed a scoop shot with 3.6 seconds left, with the ball going out of bounds on the baseline to set the stage for Novosel’s game-winner.

Notre Dame trailed 36-20 at the half, but clamped down on defense. After Haley Peters’ layup gave Duke an 18-point lead 45 seconds into the second half, the Blue Devils missed their next 14 shots.

Diggins had six points during a 21-3 run and Novosel scored to tie it at 41.

Gray finally ended an 11 1/2-minute drought for Duke with a layup that gave it a 43-41 edge with 7:48 left.

Neither team could build more than a four-point lead the rest of the way.

With the game tied at 51, Williams made a layup with 2:44 left. After a stop by Duke, Richa Jackson hit one of two free throws with 1:35 left, setting up the exciting finish.

The Fighting Irish, who matched the biggest rally in school history, missed 11 of their first 12 shots as the Blue Devils raced out to a 15-6 lead.

The Blue Devils shot just 19 percent from the field in the second half.

Other Notre Dame-Duke Series Tidbits

• Four players from last year’s McDonald’s High School All-America Game (played at the United Center in Chicago) are on Tuesday’s rosters. All now college freshmen, Notre Dame guard Michaela Mabrey and Duke guard/forward Sierra Moore played for the victorious East Team (won 79-78), while Fighting Irish guard Jewell Loyd and Blue Devils’ guard Alexis Jones were teammates on the West squad.
• Loyd, Mabrey and Jones also participated in last year’s Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School All-America Game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Loyd and Mabrey teamed up on the White Team to post a 74-62 victory over Jones’ Navy Team — Loyd was named the White Team MVP after posting game highs of 18 points and eight rebounds.
• Loyd and Duke sophomore forward/center Elizabeth Williams were teammates on the 2010 USA Basketball Under-17 National Team that won the gold medal at the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championships in Toulouse, France. Williams was the team’s top scorer and rebounder (13.5 ppg., 7.9 rpg.), while Loyd was its leading scorer off the bench (8.6 ppg., 4.0 rpg., .353 3FG%).
• Notre Dame junior guard Kayla McBride, Duke junior guard/forward Richa Jackson and Blue Devils’ junior guard/forward Haley Peters were among those invited to try out for the 2010 USA Basketball Under-18 National Team in Colorado Springs. McBride ultimately was named (and Peters was one of 16 finalists) to the USA side that won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship with a 5-0 record during the tournament that also was held in Colorado Springs (McBride started all five games, averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game with a .500 field goal percentage and .846 free throw percentage in the event).
• Prior to her appointment to the Blue Devils’ staff in summer of 2011 (and between several stints with WNBA teams), second-year Duke assistant coach Joy Cheek had spent the past few years on the staff of Notre Dame’s summer basketball camps.
• Duke vice president/director of athletics Kevin White spent eight years (2000-08) in a similar role at Notre Dame, and was at the helm when the Fighting Irish women’s basketball team won the 2001 national championship. Several of White’s lieutenants on the Duke athletics administration staff also have Notre Dame ties, including deputy director of athletics Stan Wilcox (same post at Notre Dame from 2005-08; four-year monogram winner in men’s basketball at Notre Dame from 1978-81 under head coach Digger Phelps including 1978 Final Four berth; earned bachelor’s degree in economics from top-ranked Mendoza College of Business in 1981) and associate director of athletics/administration and chief of staff Nina King (director of rules education at Notre Dame from 2005-08; graduated from Notre Dame in 2000, earning bachelor’s of business administration degree from Mendoza College of Business; served as head student manager for Fighting Irish women’s swimming & diving program as a senior in 1999-2000).
• Duke’s first-year director of marketing & promotions Nicole Jones held several roles in Notre Dame’s marketing & promotions department from 2003-10.
• Duke assistant director of ticket operations David Brochu was part of the staff with Notre Dame Sports Properties from 2007-10.

Notre Dame vs. The ACC
As it prepares to enter the conference next year, Notre Dame is 43-17 (.717) all-time against the current alignment of the Atlantic Coast Conference, with an 8-3 (.727) record at neutral sites (and 23-13 overall record away from home).

Not surprisingly, the three most common ACC opponents are the three schools that migrated from the BIG EAST to the ACC in the past decade — Boston College (12-5), Miami (14-3) and Virginia Tech (5-1). Take that trio out of the mix and Notre Dame is 12-8 (.600) all-time against the other longer-tenured ACC schools.

This will be the second consecutive season that the Fighting Irish have played an ACC team in the NCAA Elite Eight. Last year, Notre Dame defeated Maryland, 80-49, to win the NCAA Raleigh Regional title (at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.) en route to the program’s second consecutive national championship game appearance.

Irish In The NCAA Championship
Notre Dame is in the midst of its 20th appearance in the NCAA Championship, and 18th in a row. The Fighting Irish have a .690 winning percentage (40-18) in NCAA Championship play, ranking eighth all-time in that category (minimum of 20 games played).

In addition, Notre Dame’s current streak of 18 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances ranks sixth in the record books (and eighth-longest at any time in tournament history).

Here are some other facts about the Fighting Irish in the “Big Dance” (see pp. 166-186 in this year’s regular season media guide for box scores, results and records):

• Notre Dame is the sixth school in tournament history to make consecutive appearances in the NCAA national championship game. The Fighting Irish are 1-2 all-time in the NCAA final, defeating Purdue (68-66) in 2001 in St. Louis, and falling to Texas A&M (76-70) in 2011 in Indianapolis and Baylor (80-61) last year in Denver.
• Notre Dame is one of seven schools to advance to the NCAA Women’s Final Four at least four times.
• Notre Dame is one of five schools to make four trips to the NCAA Women’s Final Four and come away with at least one national championship, going to the semifinals in 1997, the title game in 2011 and 2012, and winning it all in 2001.
• The Fighting Irish have a 4-3 (.571) record at the NCAA Women’s Final Four, owning the seventh-best winning percentage (minimum of three games played).
• Notre Dame is one of four schools in the country to reach the NCAA Elite Eight the past three seasons (others are Connecticut, Duke and Tennessee).
• Notre Dame is one of six schools in the land to have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 11 times in the past 17 years (1997-2013).
• Following their March 24 victory over UT Martin, the Fighting Irish have won their NCAA tournament opener in 16 of the past 18 seasons, dating back to the start of their membership in the BIG EAST Conference (since 1995-96).
• Each of Notre Dame’s 20 NCAA tournament appearances have come during the tenure of 26th-year head coach Muffet McGraw.

Sowing The Seeds
For the second consecutive season (and third time in program history), Notre Dame has earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Championship.

The Fighting Irish are 14-1 (.933) all-time as a top seed in the tournament, winning six in a row to claim the 2001 national championship, then going 5-1 last year on the way to an NCAA national runner-up finish before opening this year’s tournament with victories over UT Martin, Iowa and Kansas.

Notre Dame has been awarded a top-eight seed for the 14th time in its 20 NCAA Championship visits (and a top-four seed for the seventh time). Including this year’s wins, the Fighting Irish are 26-5 (.839) all-time as the higher seed in NCAA tournament play.

It Hinges On Defense
Notre Dame’s success in the NCAA Championship can be directly traced to its performance at the defensive end of the floor. In its 20 NCAA tournament trips (58 games), the Fighting Irish are 22-2 (.917) when holding their opponent to 60 points or fewer, including a current eight-game winning streak dating back to the 2010 tournament.

Notre Dame’s two losses to teams scoring 60 points or fewer both came at the hands of top-seeded clubs — Penn State (55-49) in the 2004 East Regional semifinals, and North Carolina (60-51) in the second round of the 2007 Dallas Region.

Stoking The Offensive Fires
Notre Dame has reached the 70-point mark in 19 of its last 22 NCAA tournament games, going 16-3 (.842) in those contests.

This year marks just the second time the Fighting Irish have scored at least 90 points in two NCAA Championship games (97 vs. UT-Martin in the first round; 93 vs. Kansas in the regional semifinals). In 2001, Notre Dame opened with a 98-49 win over Alcorn State, then came back to post a 90-75 victory over Connecticut in the national semifinals.

The 97-64 opening-round win over UT-Martin also represented the second-highest point total ever posted by the Fighting Irish in an NCAA tournament game, topped only by that 98-49 win over Alcorn State (March 17, 2001, in a Midwest Region first-round game at Purcell Pavilion).

Bonus Basketball
Notre Dame is 3-1 all-time when going to overtime in the NCAA tournament, following last year’s national semifinal win over Connecticut (83-75 in Denver). The Fighting Irish had previously split two OT games with Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament (79-75 in a 2008 second-round game at West Lafayette, Ind.; 77-72 loss in 2010 regional semifinal in Kansas City), and also defeated Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), 69-65, in extra time in their 2004 NCAA opener.

Notre Dame is 20-17 (.541) all-time when going to overtime, including an 8-4 record in its last 12 contests. This season, the Fighting Irish are 2-0 in added time, most recently pulling out a 96-87 triple-overtime victory against No. 3 Connecticut on March 4 at Purcell Pavilion (in what was the longest game in program history).

Don’t Mess With Tradition
The Notre Dame women’s basketball program has developed some traditions that should be quite evident during this week’s NCAA regional games in Norfolk.

• Green nails — each of the Fighting Irish players and female coaches wear green nail polish throughout the NCAA Championship. This tradition started during the 1997 tourney, when the Fighting Irish added the green polish to their fingers prior to their second-round St. Patrick’s Day game at Texas, which Notre Dame won 86-83. The Fighting Irish ended up going to their first NCAA Final Four that season and the green nail polish was here to stay. As a show of solidarity, the male members of the travel party usually paint their left pinky green as well.
• Green uniforms — though not limited exclusively to NCAA tournament play, Notre Dame’s distinctive kelly green road uniforms have become a staple of the postseason in keeping with the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, which often falls during the early rounds of the tournament. The Fighting Irish most recently wore the alternate green road threads in the NCAA Championship for last year’s national championship game against Baylor (a 80-61 loss) — Notre Dame is 8-9 (.471) all-time in the NCAA tournament when featuring the “wearing o’ the green.” The Fighting Irish also have broken out their alternate home whites with green trim (either lime or kelly green or both) for early-round games in recent seasons, posting an 11-1 (.917) record in those uniforms (the first time they have been worn in NCAA tournament play).
• Irish jig — this unique pre-game ritual has become one of the widely-recognized traditions of Notre Dame women’s basketball. Just prior to the introduction of the starting lineups, the Fighting Irish players will circle up in the lane with a basketball at their feet. As the Notre Dame pep band plays “Rakes of Mallow”, the team will perform the Irish Jig (a popular step with Notre Dame fans, especially the student body) with the ball bouncing around in the midst of their dance. This tradition is believed to have started during the 1999-2000 season, but picked up steam during Notre Dame’s 2000-01 national championship run and has been part of the Fighting Irish pre-game ritual ever since.

And Don’t Forget The Lime Green Shirts
The ever-present lime green t-shirts you might see many Notre Dame fans wearing around Norfolk this week are given out annually to Fighting Irish women’s basketball season ticket holders, a group affectionately known as the “Spirit Patrol”. Created by former coordinator of basketball operations Stephanie Menio, the shirts are based on one of head coach Muffet McGraw’s favorite colors, which she sported on the sidelines during the 2001 national championship game win over Purdue.

Start Me Up
Following Sunday’s win over Kansas in the NCAA Norfolk Regional semifinals, Notre Dame has posted the best 35-game record in school history (34-1).

The 2000-01 squad was winding up its run to a national championship at the 35-game mark, owning a 33-2 record, while last year’s club was 32-3 after winning its first two NCAA tournament games en route to the program’s second consecutive NCAA title game appearance (and third overall).

Streak Stats
Notre Dame’s current 29-game winning streak has set the program record for consecutive victories, surpassing the mark of the 2000-01 club that opened the season with 23 consecutive wins.

What’s more, the Fighting Irish have tied the second-longest winning streak by any team in the modern era (since 1950) of Notre Dame athletics. Only the 1965-67 men’s tennis team (29) and 2001 softball team (33) have posted equal or longer winning streaks among Fighting Irish squads (aside from a pair of lengthy success strings by the men’s/women’s fencing programs, which compete in a sport currently offered by less than 50 schools across all three NCAA divisions, with some of the wins in those fencing streaks coming against Division II or III opponents).

Notre Dame has strung together 13 double-digit winning streaks in the women’s basketball program’s 36-year history, with 11 of those coming during the tenure of Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-88 to present).

Thirty Deeds
The 83-59 win over No. 16/15 Louisville in the BIG EAST Championship semifinal on March 11 was Notre Dame’s 30th victory of the season, marking the fifth time in program history the Fighting Irish have reached the 30-win mark, and the third consecutive season. Notre Dame also logged that milestone in 1996-97 (31-7), 2000-01 (34-2), 2010-11 (31-8) and 2011-12 (35-4).

Not only does this represent the first time the Fighting Irish have posted three consecutive 30-win seasons, but it also was the second year in a row they registered their 30th win prior to the start of the NCAA Championship.

Road Warriors
Notre Dame has won a school-record 22 consecutive regular season road games and 29 of its last 34 overall. The Fighting Irish last tasted defeat on the road on March 6, 2012 (a 63-54 loss at Connecticut in the BIG EAST title game), and haven’t lost a regular season game since Nov. 20, 2011, a 94-81 setback at No. 1 Baylor in the Preseason WNIT championship game.

Notre Dame went 13-0 on the road this year, the first time a Fighting Irish club has gone an entire season without losing a road game. It also matched the program record for road victories in a season, first set by the 1996-97 squad that went 13-4 on enemy turf en route to the first of the program’s four NCAA Women’s Final Four appearances.

The highlight of this current run came on Jan. 5, 2013, when Notre Dame edged No. 1 Connecticut, 73-72, in Storrs, Conn., earning its fourth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent and first-ever victory on the road.

Prior to the past two years, the school record for consecutive regular season road wins was held by Notre Dame’s 2000-01 national championship team that won its first 10 road outings before a 54-53 loss at No. 11/14 Rutgers on Feb. 17, 2001.

The Fighting Irish also have won a school-record 16 consecutive conference regular season road games, with their last loss coming on Feb. 28, 2011 (a 70-69 loss at No. 12/11 DePaul).

The previous school record for consecutive regular season conference road wins was seven, set numerous times, most recently crossing between the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.

The previous Notre Dame record for consecutive regular season road victories in any conference was 15, which the Fighting Irish set from Feb. 25, 1989-Feb. 14, 1991 during their time in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (Horizon League).

A Class By Themselves
Led by its two-player senior class of guards/co-captains Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner, Notre Dame has posted the best four-year record (129-19, .872) in school history, topping the win total (117) compiled by last year’s seniors.

Prior to the 2011-12 season, the highest four-year win total by a senior class was 109, set by the Class of 2001 that included (among others) consensus national player of the year and 12-year WNBA veteran Ruth Riley and current Fighting Irish assistant coach Niele Ivey.

The Rare Air Up There
With its 77-67 win at No. 9 Tennessee on Jan. 28, Notre Dame made NCAA Division I history in two ways. The Fighting Irish not only became the first school ever to defeat both Connecticut and Tennessee in three consecutive seasons, but they also were the first program in the NCAA era (since 1981-82) to defeat both the Huskies and Lady Vols on the road in the same season (the latter victory was Notre Dame’s first in nine games against UT in Knoxville).

Starting with its 2011 NCAA Elite Eight win over Tennessee in Dayton, Ohio, Notre Dame has gone a combined 10-1 against Connecticut and Tennessee, with no other senior class at any school having compiled that many wins against those two traditional powers since 1988-89 (when Connecticut made its first NCAA postseason appearance).

Finding A Way
Facing its largest deficit of the season (22-7) less than eight minutes into its Feb. 26 Senior Night game against No. 22/20 Syracuse at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame reminded observers there are numerous ways to play this game — and win.

In this case, the Fighting Irish flipped the script with a 40-10 surge that covered 14:55 during the middle of the game, starting with 3:56 left in the first half when Notre Dame trailed 39-25, and ending when the Fighting Irish held a 65-49 lead at the 9:01 mark of the second half.

The 15-point comeback win tied Notre Dame’s largest rally at home in its BIG EAST era (72-65 win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 28, 2006 – coincidentally, also a Senior Night game), and it was the largest for the Fighting Irish in any contest since Nov. 26, 2011, when Notre Dame tied a school record with an 18-point comeback win (56-54) over No. 7/6 Duke in the title game of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.

What’s more, the 31-point swing in momentum was the largest in a Fighting Irish game since March 30, 2001, against Connecticut in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinals at the Savvis Center (now Scottrade Center) in St. Louis. On that night, Notre Dame trailed the Huskies, 47-31, with 2:02 left in the first half, but stormed back to win, 90-75 en route to the program’s first national championship.

Spreading The Wealth
Notre Dame has had at least four players score in double figures in 22 games this year, going 22-0 in those contests. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Fighting Irish are 74-4 (.949) when they have four or more players reach double digits in the scoring column, including an active 44-game winning streak that dates back to Feb. 28, 2011 (70-69 loss at DePaul).

Everyone Pitches In
With the graduation of two-time honorable mention All-Americans (and 2012 WNBA first-round draft picks) Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters, Notre Dame entered this season searching to find a way to make up for the talented duo’s 27.0 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.

Thus far in 2012-13, it would appear the Fighting Irish are making this mission truly a team effort. On the scoring side, 10 of the 11 players on the roster have scored in double figures at least once this season, including junior forward Ariel Braker (eight times, after having two double-figure games in her first two seasons combined), sophomore guards Madison Cable (three times) and Whitney Holloway (once – the first double-digit games of Cable and Holloway’s careers) and freshman guards Jewell Loyd (22 times) and Michaela Mabrey (three times).

On the backboards, junior forward Natalie Achonwa is second in the BIG EAST at 9.5 rebounds per game and has piled up 18 of her 20 career double-digit rebounding games this year, including a 20-point/20-rebound effort against South Florida in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals on March 10 (the program’s first 20/20 outing since Jan. 20, 1988, when Heidi Bunek had 25 points and 20 rebounds in a loss at DePaul).

A native of Guelph, Ontario, and 2012 Canadian Olympic Team member, Achonwa has a BIG EAST-leading (and school-record) 18 double-doubles (including seven in 12 games against ranked opponents) after logging one double-double in her career prior to this season.

The Best Things In Life Are Free
Throughout the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has displayed a penchant for making opponents pay at the free throw line.

Through 35 games, the Fighting Irish rank second in the nation in free throw percentage (as of Sunday), shooting a remarkable .802 (624-of-778) from the charity stripe, including a season-high .950 (19-of-20) on March 24 in its NCAA Championship first-round win over UT-Martin (not including a 6-for-6 effort in the BIG EAST Championship final at Connecticut on March 12).

On average, Notre Dame is getting to the line better than 22 times per game, converting nearly 18 free throws a night. At the same time, the Fighting Irish have made nearly 34 percent more foul shots than their opponents have attempted (624 made, 467 opponent attempts).

Last year, Notre Dame set a school record by connecting at a .763 clip from the foul line, leading the BIG EAST with a stellar .807 percentage during conference play.

Junior guard Kayla McBride has had the most success cashing in on this strategy during the past two seasons, making 84 of 92 free throws (.913) to lead the BIG EAST (and ranking second during conference play with an .891 percentage). She also would rank fifth in the nation (as of Sunday), but she is four made free throws short of the minimum necessary for qualification (2.5 FTM/game).

McBride is one of four Notre Dame players who appear among the top 10 in the current BIG EAST free throw rankings, with freshman guard Jewell Loyd ranking second (.837), senior guard Skylar Diggins placing fourth (.817) and junior forward Natalie Achonwa ranking ninth (.791).

For her career, McBride has logged an .889 free throw percentage, putting her ahead of Alicia Ratay’s school-record mark (.872) from 1999-2003.

McGraw’s Milestone Moment
With a 59-52 victory at Villanova on Feb. 5, Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw became the 13th NCAA Division I coach to register 700 career victories. McGraw currently has a 31-year record of 713-257 (.735), including a 625-216 (.742) record in 26 seasons with the Fighting Irish, ranking 12th in NCAA history, and seventh among active coaches for career wins.

McGraw also became the eighth-fastest Division I coach to reach the 700-win milestone, hitting the mark in 957 games and quicker than several other notable coaches such as North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell (966 games), Ohio State’s Jim Foster (973), former Virginia coach Debbie Ryan (998) and two now-deceased Hall of Fame coaches — Sue Gunter (1,004, most notably at LSU) and Kay Yow (1,021, primarily at North Carolina State).

Irish Trio Collects All-Region Honors
For the fourth consecutive year (and the fourth time in school history), three Notre Dame players earned all-region status in the same season and now are in position to contend for places on the 2013 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team, it was announced March 19 by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Fighting Irish are the only team in the country to field three all-region honorees this season, and Notre Dame is the only school in the land to have three all-region selections each of the past four years.

Senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins earned her fourth all-region citation in as many seasons, while junior forward Natalie Achonwa and junior guard Kayla McBride both garnered all-region honors for the first time in their respective careers. The trio is among the 52 all-region selections, and three of the 12 honorees from the WBCA’s Region I, which includes players from schools in the BIG EAST, Atlantic 10, America East and Northeast conferences, as well as the Ivy Group and Patriot League. All told, 14 Fighting Irish players have collected all-region laurels a total of 26 times in the program’s 36-year history.

Diggins’ selection is particularly noteworthy, as she becomes the first Notre Dame player to collect four all-region citations in her career, surpassing three-time selections Ruth Riley (1999-2001) and Jacqueline Batteast (2002, 2004-05). All three of those players also made the 10-member State Farm Coaches All-America Team at some point during their careers, with Riley making the 2001 squad, Batteast doing likewise in 2005 and Diggins the most recent Fighting Irish All-America choice in both 2011 and 2012.

From this year’s list of 52 all-region nominees, a group of 10 will be chosen by the State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team selection committee for this year’s State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team. The 2013 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team will be announced at 2:10 p.m. (ET) on April 6 at New Orleans Arena during events surrounding the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Those all-region nominees not chosen for the 10-member State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team will be designated as State Farm Coaches’ All-America Honorable Mentions, a status earned by 11 Fighting Irish players, all since 1991 — Karen Robinson (1991), Katryna Gaither (1996, 1997), current associate coach Beth (Morgan) Cunningham (1996, 1997), Riley (1999, 2000), Batteast (2002, 2004), Megan Duffy (2005, 2006), Charel Allen (2007), Diggins (2010), Lindsay Schrader (2010), Natalie Novosel (2011, 2012) and Devereaux Peters (2011, 2012).

Irish Clean Up On BIG EAST Awards Circuit
The 2012-13 BIG EAST Conference women’s basketball awards press conference had a distinct Notre Dame flavor to it, as the Fighting Irish swept the three major individual honors that were announced March 8.

For the second consecutive season, senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins was selected as the BIG EAST Player of the Year. She was joined on the BIG EAST awards dais by freshman guard Jewell Loyd, who was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, and head coach Muffet McGraw, who took home Coach of the Year honors.

All three award recipients were chosen for their respective honors through a vote of the league’s head coaches, who were not allowed to select their own players. This marks just the second time since the BIG EAST began sponsoring women’s basketball in 1982-83 that a school other than Connecticut swept the conference’s top three individual awards — in that inaugural ’82-83 season, St. John’s had all three honorees (Player of the Year Debbie Beckford, Freshman of the Year Ann Marie McNamee and Coach of the Year Don Perrelli).

Diggins is the first Notre Dame player to be BIG EAST Player of the Year twice (first in any conference since Karen Robinson won consecutive Midwestern Collegiate Conference/Horizon League honors in 1990 and 1991), and one of three Fighting Irish players to earn the award, following the path blazed in 2001 by consensus National Player of the Year Ruth Riley and 2005 recipient Jacqueline Batteast. Diggins also is the first player from a school other than Connecticut to be chosen as BIG EAST Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since 1985-87, when Villanova’s Shelly Pennefather became the only other non-Husky to take home the award in consecutive years.

Meanwhile, Loyd is the third Notre Dame player to be selected as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, and the first since Batteast in 2002 (the other was Alicia Ratay in 2000).

Both Diggins and Loyd also earned all-conference recognition, with Diggins a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST pick for the third consecutive season (joining Riley as the only Notre Dame players to achieve that distinction in their careers), while Loyd was an honorable mention all-league choice, as well as a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.

Diggins was joined on the All-BIG EAST First Team by junior forward Natalie Achonwa and junior guard Kayla McBride, the first all-conference citation of each player’s career. It marked the third consecutive year the Fighting Irish had three first-team all-BIG EAST honorees and just the second time in program history that Notre Dame has fielded four all-conference selections in the same year. In 2001, Riley and current Fighting Irish assistant coach Niele Ivey were first-team selections, while Ratay copped third-team status and Kelley Siemon was an honorable mention pick.

Prior to 2010-11, the Notre Dame women’s basketball program had never had three players garner first-team all-conference honors in the same season in any of their league memberships (BIG EAST since 1995-96, plus Midwestern Collegiate Conference/Horizon League from 1988-95 and North Star Conference from 1983-88). Notre Dame also is the first school in BIG EAST history to have three first-team all-conference selections in three consecutive seasons, and just the second program to have three seasons (at any time) with three first-team all-BIG EAST players — the latter feat is something only Connecticut (2001-02, 2007-08 and 2009-10) has managed to duplicate since the BIG EAST began women’s basketball competition in 1982-83.

McGraw now is a two-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year, having previously earned the honor in 2001. What’s more, she is a five-time conference Coach of the Year, also garnering recognition from the East Coast Conference (1983 – when she coached at Lehigh), North Star Conference (1988) and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference/Horizon League (1991).

Diggins Challenging School Records
Throughout the 2012-13 season, senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins will continue to close the gap that separates her from the highest eschelon of Notre Dame women’s basketball players in a number of the program’s top career categories. Here’s a look at just a few of the notable milestones Diggins has reached (or will attempt to reach) this season:

• Diggins (2,323 points) is now the Fighting Irish all-time scoring leader, scoring 27 points against Kansas on March 31 to pass current Notre Dame associate coach Beth (Morgan) Cunningham (2,322 points from 1993-97) and assume the top spot.
• With three rebounds on Feb. 17 at Marquette, Diggins (549 rebounds) became the first women’s basketball player in school history with 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in her career. Only one Notre Dame men’s basketball player has ever compiled that impressive combination of statistics (Chris Thomas from 2001-05).
• Diggins (372 steals) already has set the new Notre Dame record for career steals, passing assistant coach Niele Ivey’s previous school record for career thefts (348 from 1996-2001) with two steals on March 2 at Providence.
• Diggins (728 assists) has an outside shot at the Fighting Irish all-time record for assists held by Mary Gavin (1984-88), needing 50 helpers to reach the mark. Diggins stands second in school history, having passed Ivey (727 from 1996-2001) with nine assists on March 31 against Kansas in the NCAA Norfolk Regional semifinals. Diggins’ charge this year has been led by her career-high 14 assists on Dec. 31 against Saint Francis (Pa.), the fourth-most assists by an NCAA Division I player in a game this season and most by a Notre Dame player in nearly 26 years.
• Combining her points, rebounds, assists and steals, Diggins is one of just six NCAA Division I players since 1999-2000 to amass 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals in her career (see accompanying chart in PDF version of this notes package, with research courtesy of STATS, LLC, which began tracking women’s basketball career statistics in 1999-2000).
• With the opening tip of the Feb. 9 win at Seton Hall, Diggins became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in career starts (now 142), passing Alicia Ratay (129 from 1999-2003).

The Diggins Factor
Notre Dame has posted a 129-19 (.872) record in the past four seasons (2009-10 to present), a mark that can be traced in no small part to the arrival of guard Skylar Diggins. The South Bend native has helped lead the Fighting Irish to a spot in the 2011 and 2012 NCAA national championship games and berths in the 2013 NCAA Elite Eight and 2010 NCAA Sweet 16, as well as a 30-12 record against AP Top 25 teams (15-10 vs. the AP Top 10) and a 91-1 record against unranked opponents (not appearing in the AP poll), including a 63-game winning streak from the start of the 2009-10 season before falling to West Virginia on Feb. 12, 2012.

Upon closer examination, Notre Dame’s 19 losses in Diggins’ career primarily have been ones that could have gone either way, with 11 decided by single digits (six were in doubt inside the final minute), and two that went to overtime.

With Diggins in uniform, the Fighting Irish have posted three of the top 10 most prolific offensive seasons in school history, averaging 78.9 ppg. last year, after logging 77.0 ppg. in 2010-11, and 77.2 ppg. in her freshman season of 2009-10. Notre Dame is on pace to mirror those figures this season, currently averaging 81.5 ppg. (which ranked third nationally as of Sunday).

In addition, thanks to Diggins’ penchant for steals (she has a 2.51 spg. career mark that is fourth-best in school history), the Fighting Irish have recorded the top three single-season steal marks in program history with 502 thefts last year, 495 steals in 2010-11, and 450 thefts in 2009-10. Notre Dame isn’t far off those marks this season, currently averaging 10.7 spg. (which has given the Fighting Irish 375 steals entering Tuesday’s regional final against Duke).

The past two years also have seen Notre Dame post two of the four best defensive scoring average in school history, allowing a school-record 52.9 ppg., last season (well ahead of the previous mark of 55.1 ppg., in 1981-82) and giving up just 56.2 ppg., in 2010-11. The Fighting Irish are in position to challenge those totals again this year, presently allowing 58.1 points per game.

Canadian Ace
According to the time-honored adage, “there’s no substitute for experience.” In the case of Notre Dame junior forward Natalie Achonwa, that experience was second to none and it’s paid off exceptionally well for the veteran Fighting Irish frontliner this season.

During the summer of 2012, Achonwa was a key contributor on Canada’s Senior National Team, helping leading her country to its first Olympic appearance in 12 years. Not content to merely qualify, Canada then earned two hard-fought wins in the group stage to reach the Olympic quarterfinals (medal round) for the first time since 1984.

As the second-youngest player in the London Olympic Basketball Tournament at the tender age of 19, Achonwa averaged 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, highlighted by a 14-point, eight-rebound effort against eventual Olympic silver medalist France during the preliminary round.

Parlaying her Olympic experience, Achonwa has moved seamlessly into Notre Dame’s starting lineup this season after spending her first two years as an important reserve. The Guelph, Ontario, native was expected to take on a larger role this year with the graduation of two-time All-American Devereaux Peters, but Achonwa has taken that growth to a whole new level, nearly doubling her averages in scoring (7.6 to 13.9 ppg.) and rebounding (4.4 to 9.5 rpg.), while scoring in double figures 29 times and grabbing double-digit rebounds on 18 occasions (including a career-best 20 rebounds on March 10 against South Florida, part of the first 20-point/20-rebound game by a Notre Dame player since Jan. 20, 1988, when Heidi Bunek did it against DePaul).

What’s more, Achonwa came into this season with one career double-double and a career scoring high of 20 points. This year, she leads the BIG EAST in double-doubles (18, including seven against ranked teams) and has six 20-point games to her credit (career-high 23 vs. Utah State on Dec. 8).

Achonwa’s 18 double-doubles also are a school record, erasing the previous mark set by Katryna Gaither (16 in 1996-97). However, it took Gaither all 38 games that season to achieve that total, something Achonwa surpassed in her 34th game this year.

Achonwa ranks among the top 20 in the BIG EAST in scoring (17th – 13.9 ppg.), rebounding (2nd – 9.5 rpg.), field goal percentage (7th – .527; also 22nd nationally) and free throw percentage (9th – .791).

Although she was passed over for selection as the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, Achonwa’s development has not gone entirely unnoticed, as she was a first-team all-conference choice and a WBCA All-Region I Team pick this season.

The Erie Warrior
Along with her classmate Natalie Achonwa, junior guard (and Erie, Pa., native) Kayla McBride has been a major reason for Notre Dame’s success this season, capably stepping into a larger role within the Fighting Irish system following the graduation of two-time honorable mention All-America wing Natalie Novosel.

McBride currently ranks seventh in the BIG EAST in scoring (15.9 ppg.) and leads the conference in free throw percentage (.913). In both areas, she is posting career-high marks, including an improvement of better than 37 percent in her scoring average from last year (11.6 ppg.).

McBride also is among the team leaders this season with 30 double-figure scoring games, including at least at least 20 points in six of Notre Dame’s last nine games (she is averaging 20.9 points per game during that stretch).

McBride also has risen to the occasion against the toughest competition, scoring at least 15 points in 11 of Notre Dame’s 12 games against ranked opponents this season (18.8 ppg.). Among her highlights against Top 25 teams are a 23.3-ppg. average in three matchups vs. Connecticut, led by a (then) career-high 26 points in a triple-overtime win on March 4 and a game-high 23 points in the BIG EAST title game on the road on March 12.

In fact, in her last 27 games against Top 25 opponents, McBride is averaging 15.6 points per game, scoring in double figures 24 times and posting her first two career double-doubles (10 points, career-high 12 rebounds vs. No. 2 Connecticut on Jan. 7, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion; 13 points, 10 rebounds at No. 13/14 Rutgers on Jan. 31, 2012).

McBride added her third career double-double (and first this season) on March 24 with 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the NCAA Championship first-round win over Tennessee-Martin.

Crown Jewell
Freshman guard Jewell Loyd is rapidly making her presence felt as one of the top rookies, not only in the BIG EAST Conference, but around the country.

The Lincolnwood, Ill., native was chosen as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and was an honorable mention all-conference choice (as well as a unanimous BIG EAST All-Freshman Team pick) after appearing in 34 games for the Fighting Irish this season (starting 33 times), scoring in double figures 22 times, earning her first career double-double (18 points/13 rebounds at South Florida on Jan. 8) and posting three “5-5-5” games.

Loyd currently ranks among the BIG EAST leaders in scoring (25th – 12.4 ppg.), free throw percentage (2nd – .837) and field goal percentage (15th – .457), and would be second in the conference in three-point percentage (.414), but she is five treys short of the minimum needed for qualification (1.0 3FGM/game).

Loyd first opened eyes on the national scene with a (then) season- (and game-) high 24 points and team-best seven rebounds in the 73-61 loss to Baylor on Dec. 5 at Purcell Pavilion. The 5-foot-10 guard connected on her first four three-point attempts of the evening (finishing 4-of-5 from beyond the arc) on the way to notching the most points by a Fighting Irish rookie against a ranked opponent since Jan. 26, 2002, when Jacqueline Batteast scored 26 points in Notre Dame’s 64-57 win over No. 16/17 Virginia Tech at Purcell Pavilion.

What’s more, Loyd also scored the most points by a Notre Dame freshman against an opponent ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll since Feb. 19, 2000, when Alicia Ratay netted 26 points (including a school-record 7-for-7 three-pointers) in a 78-74 overtime win at No. 8/11 Rutgers.

Loyd turned heads once more in her NCAA Championship debut on March 24 against UT Martin, scoring a career-high 27 points (on 10-of-15 shooting), the most points by a Fighting Irish freshman in her NCAA postseason debut since 2006 (Lindsay Schrader scored 29 points in a first-round loss to Boston College).

In her first three NCAA tournament games, Loyd is averaging 18.7 points per game while shooting .618 from the field (21-of-34) and .667 from the three-point line (4-of-6).

Polling Station
Notre Dame was ranked a season-best No. 2 for the 11th consecutive Associated Press poll when the final survey came out March 18, its 46th consecutive week in the top 10 of the media balloting, dating back to the middle of the 2010-11 season, and marking 116 consecutive weeks in the AP poll.

The Fighting Irish reached a milestone on Nov. 26 with their No. 5 ranking, which was their 100th consecutive AP poll appearance. It not only extended the program record that started with the AP preseason poll in 2007-08 (the old record was 59 consecutive weeks from 1998-2001), but it made the Fighting Irish are one of six teams in the nation with an active streak of 100 consecutive AP poll appearances.

What’s more, every current Notre Dame player has competed for a ranked Fighting Irish squad throughout her career (77 consecutive weeks for the current senior class), spending the vast majority (66) of those appearances in the AP Top 10 (and never lower than 18th).

Notre Dame’s year-end No. 2 ranking matches the highest final AP poll appearance in program history. The 2000-01 national championship squad was second in the last media survey that season, taken just after a last-second 78-76 loss at Connecticut in the BIG EAST title game (when the Fighting Irish had been ranked No. 1).

Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP poll for 255 weeks during the program’s 36-year history, with every one of those appearances coming in the Muffet McGraw era (since 1987-88). McGraw ranks ninth among all active NCAA Division I head coaches for weeks in the AP poll, and 20th all-time in that category.

In addition, the Fighting Irish held steady at a season-best No. 2 for the fifth consecutive week in the last pre-NCAA Championship ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches’ poll (released March 18), after spending the previous six weeks in the No. 3 spot. Notre Dame also has earned at least one first-place vote in the coaches’ poll for the past 11 surveys, including four on Jan. 8 and two on March 5.

Notre Dame has been ranked in the coaches’ poll for 116 of the past 117 weeks (and 80 in a row), falling just outside the Top 25 in the final poll of the 2008-09 season. Nevertheless, the Fighting Irish have appeared in the coaches’ poll for a total of 249 weeks during their history (all coming during McGraw’s tenure).

This marks the fifth consecutive season Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 of the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA poll, as well as 11 of the past 15 campaigns (1998-99 to present).

More Polling Data
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is one of 31 people in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history who have both played for and coached a team that has appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Besides her 255 AP poll appearances while coaching at Notre Dame, McGraw was the starting point guard at Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) as a senior in 1977, helping the Hawks to No. 3 in the nation.

Of the 31 people on this list, 16 currently are NCAA Division I head coaches (see accompanying chart in PDF version of this notes package), with McGraw and Baylor’s Kim Mulkey are the only active skippers to play for and coach a team in the AP poll, and coach that team to a national title (McGraw in 2001, Mulkey in 2005 and 2012).

The Benefits Of Leadership
Notre Dame is in the unique position of essentially having three head coaches on its bench, with current Fighting Irish skipper Muffet McGraw enjoying the expertise of two former head coaches on her staff — associate head coach Carol Owens (who guided her alma mater Northern Illinois from 2005-10) and associate coach Beth Cunningham (who piloted VCU from 2003-12).

Collectively, the Notre Dame staff has 45 seasons of head coaching experience, which ranks fifth among Division I schools behind only Stanford (52), Villanova (50), Ohio State (48) and Rutgers (46).

Half And Half
During the past 12 seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Fighting Irish are 278-19 (.936) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 206 of their last 219 such contests (.941).

What’s more, in the past four seasons (2009-10 to present), Notre Dame is 115-2 (.983) when leading at the half, with the only losses coming on April 5, 2011, in the NCAA national championship game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (Notre Dame led Texas A&M, 35-33 at intermission before falling 76-70), and Feb. 12, 2012, against West Virginia (Fighting Irish led 33-30 at the break before the visiting Mountaineers rallied to win in the closing seconds, 65-63).

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 18 seasons, Notre Dame has discovered that a solid defensive effort can almost certainly guarantee a victory. In fact, since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference), the Fighting Irish have an amazing 278-15 (.949) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game, including 20 outings this season.

…But Sometimes You Have To Score If You Want To Win
Not resting solely on its defensive laurels, Notre Dame also seemingly has found the magic mark when it comes to outscoring its opponents. During the past 18 seasons (since 1995-96), the Fighting Irish are 184-6 (.968) when they score at least 80 points in a game. The only blemishes on that record are three overtime losses to Texas A&M (88-84) and Michigan State (87-83) in 1995 and UCLA (86-83 in double OT) in 2010, as well as a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in 1998, an 81-80 loss to DePaul in 2008, and a 94-81 setback at Baylor in 2011.

In the past four years (2009-10 to present), Notre Dame is 61-2 (.968) when topping the 80-point mark, having reached that level 16 times this season.

Coming Soon: Irish in the ACC
On Sept. 12, 2012, the University of Notre Dame announced that it had accepted an offer of admission into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports except football (the league does not offer championships in ice hockey or fencing). Subsequently on March 12, 2013, Notre Dame announced it would join the ACC in time for the 2013-14 season.

The change in conference affiliation will be the first for Notre Dame since 1995, when the Fighting Irish moved from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League) to the BIG EAST Conference.

In its 18 seasons in the BIG EAST, Notre Dame was the one of the conference’s best, winning three regular season titles (2001, 2012 and 2013) and one tournament crown (2013) and compiling a 232-64 (.784) record in league play that stands as the second-best regular season winning percentage in BIG EAST women’s basketball history.

Next Game: NCAA Women’s Final Four
Should Notre Dame defeat Duke, it will move on to the NCAA Women’s Final Four and a national semifinal game on Sunday (April 7) at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, La., against the winner of the Bridgeport Regional (top-seeded Connecticut and second-seeded Kentucky play for that crown Monday night). The Women’s Final Four national semifinals will be played at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. (ET) and will be televised live on ESPN, ESPNHD and WatchESPN.

Notre Dame is 11-29 all-time against Connecticut, but has won its last four games against the Huskies, including all three this season. The Fighting Irish also are 3-0 all-time against Connecticut in the national semifinals, winning Final Four matchups in 2001, 2011 and 2012 (last year’s game going to overtime).

Notre Dame is 1-1 all-time against Kentucky, with the two schools splitting a home-and-home series the past two seasons (UK 81-76 in 2010-11 in Lexington; ND 92-83 in 2011-12 at Purcell Pavilion).

— ND —