#2 Irish Visit Iowa Tuesday For NCAA Second Round Game

March 25, 2013

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2012-13 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 34

NCAA Championship — Norfolk Region/Second Round
#2/2 [#1 seed] Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-1 / 16-0 BIG EAST) vs. [#9 seed] Iowa Hawkeyes (21-12 / 8-8 Big Ten)

DATE: March 26, 2013
TIME: 9:40 p.m. ET/8:40 p.m. CT
AT: Iowa City, Iowa – Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,400)
SERIES: ND leads 1-0
LAST MTG: ND 61-50 (11/17/96)
TV: ESPN2/WatchESPN (live) (Holly Rowe, p-b-p / Brenda VanLengen, color)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1)/UND.com (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @ndwbbsid

Storylines

• Notre Dame has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the 16th time in the past 18 seasons.
• For the second time in three years, and ninth time in 20 NCAA Championship appearances, the Fighting Irish will play a true road game in either the first or second round of the tournament (4-4 record).

No. 2 Fighting Irish Visit Iowa Tuesday For NCAA Second Round Game
Following a crisp offensive performance in its NCAA Championship opener, No. 2 (and top-seeded) Notre Dame tackles the challenge of going on the road to face ninth-seeded (and sub-regional host) Iowa at 9:40 p.m. ET (8:40 p.m. CT) Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 via its whiparound coverage, with WatchESPN and ESPN Full Court viewers (as well as those in Indiana, Chicagoland and Iowa) seeing the game in its entirety.

The Fighting Irish (32-1) tipped off this year’s NCAA Championship in fine fashion with a wire-to-wire 97-64 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Sunday afternoon in Iowa City. Notre Dame shot a blistering .567 in the win, its best mark in an NCAA tournament game since 2000.

Freshman guard Jewell Loyd scored a career-high 27 points for Notre Dame, while junior guard Kayla McBride added her first double-double of the year (third of her career) with 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is No. 2 in the latest Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
• Iowa is not ranked.

Quick Hitters

• Notre Dame swept the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles, becoming 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 are the first BIG EAST school other than Connecticut to run the table in league play since 2005-06 (Rutgers) and just 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 27-game winning streak, topping the 23-game season-opening run set by the 2000-01 national championship team.
• In those 27 games since its only loss of the season (Dec. 5 vs. third-ranked Baylor), Notre Dame has averaged 82.6 points per game (winning by 24.3 ppg.), shot .464 from the field (.346 from three-point range), posted a rebound margin of +12.6 per game, and forced opponents into an average of 20.0 turnovers per night.
• According to the March 18 NCAA statistical report, the Fighting Irish were ranked seventh or better in seven categories — scoring offense (3rd – now 80.8 ppg.), scoring margin (3rd – +23.4 ppg.), free throw percentage (3rd – .801), assists (3rd – 19.4 apg.), rebounding margin (5th – +11.5 rpg.), field goal percentage (6th – .460) and assist/turnover ratio (7th – 1.25).
• 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 623 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).
• 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 441 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-Iowa Series
Notre Dame and Iowa will be playing for the second time, and the first since Nov. 17, 1996, when the Fighting Irish posted a 61-50 victory over the Hawkeyes in the second round of the Preseason WNIT at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Iowa Met
Senior All-America forward Katryna Gaither piled up game highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds as No. 20/25 Notre Dame advanced to the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT with a 61-50 victory over sixth-ranked Iowa on Nov. 17, 1996, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

It was a historic win for the Fighting Irish, who knocked off the first top-10 opponent in program history, and did it on the road, no less. Senior All-America guard (and current Notre Dame associate coach) Beth Morgan (Cunningham) added 12 points and eight rebounds, as the Fighting Irish locked down Iowa, holding the Hawkeyes to a .305 field goal percentage and just 21 first-half points, keeping the hosts at bay the remainder of the evening.

Nadine Domond scored a team-high 16 points, while Angela Hamblin chipped in 12 points for Iowa.

Other Notre Dame-Iowa Series Tidbits

• Sophomore forward Markisha Wright hails from Des Moines (2011 graduate of Des Moines East High School; won ’11 Class 4A state title), the third Notre Dame player to come from the state of Iowa and first in two decades since the Liebscher sisters — Sheila (1979-81) and Sara (1987-91) — played for the Fighting Irish; Sara, who currently is a director of regional development at Notre Dame, is one of three players in program history to record a triple-double (and was the last to do so before current senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins pulled off the rare feat twice).
• Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery spent 11 seasons (1988-99) as an assistant coach at Notre Dame, serving on the staffs of both Digger Phelps and John MacLeod.
• McCaffery also was the head coach at Lehigh for three seasons (1985-88), and for those first two campaigns, he worked alongside an up-and-coming women’s basketball coach named Muffet McGraw (who would leave the Bethlehem, Pa., campus in 1987-88 to take her current post at Notre Dame).
• One of the players in McGraw’s first Fighting Irish recruiting class was a feisty power forward from St. Paul, Minn., named Margaret Nowlin. The tough frontliner would go on to be a four-year monogram winner (1988-92) and three-year starter at Notre Dame, leading the Fighting Irish to their first-ever NCAA Championship berth in 1992 after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship (the last Notre Dame player to be a conference tournament MVP prior to current junior guard Kayla McBride’s selection at this year’s BIG EAST Championship in Hartford).
• Nowlin graduated in 1992 and remains 18th on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list (1,312 points) and eighth on the school’s career rebounding chart (826). She returned to the Fighting Irish program as an assistant coach for the 1995-96 season, working alongside current Notre Dame associate head coach Carol Owens (who was in her first season at the school) and helping tutor current Fighting Irish associate coach Beth Cunningham (then a junior wing playing under her maiden name of Beth Morgan).
• Nowlin stepped away from coaching following the ’95-96 season when she met her future husband — then-Notre Dame assistant men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery. The couple makes their home in Iowa City and are the proud parents of four children.
• McCaffery played an integral role in helping bring former Notre Dame associate head coach Jonathan Tsipis to the attention of Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw who added him to her staff prior to the 2003-04 season. Tsipis (who had been McCaffery’s director of basketball operations at UNC Greensboro in 2002-03) spent nine seasons in South Bend, helping Notre Dame to a pair of NCAA national championship game appearances in 2011 and 2012, before departing at the end of last season to take over as head coach at George Washington.

Notre Dame vs. The Big Ten Conference
Notre Dame is 45-49 (.479) all-time against the Big Ten Conference, with a 16-26 (.381) record on the road. The Fighting Irish also are 38-34 (.528) against the Big Ten in the Muffet McGraw era (1987-88 to present).

Of note, Notre Dame has won 17 of its last 23 games vs. Big Ten schools, including a current string of six in a row since Minnesota ended the 2008-09 Fighting Irish season with a 79-71 win in the first round of the NCAA Championship at Purcell Pavilion.

Iowa will be the third Big Ten opponent on Notre Dame’s 2012-13 schedule. On Nov. 9, the Fighting Irish opened their season with a 57-51 victory over No. 19/21 Ohio State in the second annual Carrier Classic aboard the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Then, on Dec. 29, Notre Dame defeated No. 11 Purdue, 74-47 at Purcell Pavilion.

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 .679 winning percentage (38-18) 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 seven schools in the country to have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 10 times in the past 16 years (1997-2012).
• Following Sunday’s victory over UT Martin, the Fighting Irish now 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 12-1 (.923) 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 a victory over UT Martin on Sunday afternoon.

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 Sunday’s win, the Fighting Irish are 24-5 (.828) 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 (56 games), the Fighting Irish are 21-2 (.913) when holding their opponent to 60 points or fewer, including wins in three of six tournament games last year (Liberty, Saint Bonaventure, Maryland).

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 17 of its last 20 NCAA tournament games, going 14-3 (.824) in those contests. What’s more, Sunday’s 97-64 win over Tennessee-Martin represented the second-highest point total ever posted by the Fighting Irish in an NCAA tournament game, topped only by a 98-49 win over Alcorn State on 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 weekend’s NCAA Championship games in Iowa City.

• 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 for early-round games the past five seasons, posting a 10-1 (.909) 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, 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 Carver-Hawkeye Arena this weekend 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 Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the NCAA Championship, Notre Dame has posted the best 33-game record in school history (32-1).

The 2000-01 squad was midway through its run to a national championship at the 33-game mark, owning a 31-2 record, while last year’s club fell to 30-3 after losing its 33rd game (the BIG EAST final at Connecticut) before embarking on its charge to the NCAA title game.

Streak Stats
Notre Dame’s current 27-game winning streak has set the school 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 posted the third-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 longer winning streak among Fighting Irish squads (aside from a pair of lengthy success strings by the men’s/women’s fencing programs, which compete in dual matches, but rely on individual wins in each weapon to achieve NCAA Championship titles).

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 is the second year in a row they have 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 28 of its last 33 overall, including all 12 contests this season. The Fighting Irish last tasted defeat on the road in the regular season on Nov. 20, 2011, a 94-81 setback at No. 1 Baylor in the Preseason WNIT championship game.

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 BIG EAST Conference regular season road games, with their last loss coming on Feb. 28, 2011 (a last-second 70-69 loss at No. 12/11 DePaul).

The previous school record for consecutive BIG EAST regular season 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 (127-19, .870) 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 20 games this year. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Fighting Irish are 72-4 (.947) when they have four or more players reach double digits in the scoring column, including an active 42-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 (20 times) and Michaela Mabrey (three times).

On the backboards, junior forward Natalie Achonwa is second in the BIG EAST at 9.3 rebounds per game and has piled up 16 of her 18 career double-digit rebounding games this year, including the program’s first 20-rebound outing since Jan. 20, 1988 (Heidi Bunek at DePaul). The Guelph, Ontario, native, and 2012 Canadian Olympic Team member also has a BIG EAST-leading (and school record-tying) 16 double-doubles (seven against ranked opponents, eight in conference play) 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 33 games, the Fighting Irish rank third in the nation in free throw percentage (as of March 18), shooting a remarkable .801 (593-of-740) from the charity stripe, including a season-high .950 (19-of-20) on Sunday in its NCAA Championship first-round win over Tennessee-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 almost 33 percent more foul shots than their opponents have attempted (593 made, 446 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 77 of 84 free throws (.917) to lead the BIG EAST (and ranking second during conference play with an .891 percentage).

McBride is one of four Notre Dame players who appear among the top 15 in the current BIG EAST free throw rankings, with freshman guard Jewell Loyd ranking third (.830), senior guard Skylar Diggins placing fourth (.819) and junior forward Natalie Achonwa ranking 11th (.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.

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).

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 711-257 (.735), including a 623-216 (.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).

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 will have a shot to reach this season:

• Diggins (2,280 points) needs 42 points to catch current Notre Dame associate coach Beth (Morgan) Cunningham as the program’s all-time leading scorer. Diggins moved into second place on the Fighting Irish all-time scoring list with her 23 points on Feb. 17 at Marquette, passing Katryna Gaither (2,126 points from 1993-97).
• With three rebounds on Feb. 17 at Marquette, Diggins (542 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 (366 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 (714 assists) has an outside shot at the Fighting Irish all-time record for assists held by Mary Gavin (1984-88), needing 64 helpers to reach the mark (Ivey is second, currently 13 ahead of Diggins). Diggins stands third in school history, having passed Mollie Peirick (651 from 1994-98) with her seven assists on Feb. 11 vs. No. 10/11 Louisville. Diggins’ charge this year has been led by her career-high 14 assists on Dec. 31 against Saint Francis (Pa.) that are 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 packages), 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 140), passing Alicia Ratay (129 from 1999-2003).

The Diggins Factor
Notre Dame has posted a 127-19 (.870) 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 a berth in the 2010 NCAA Sweet 16, as well as a 30-12 record against AP Top 25 teams (15-10 vs. the AP Top 10) and an 89-1 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 81.3 ppg. (which ranked third nationally as of March 18).

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 10.9 spg. (which has given the Fighting Irish 360 steals entering Tuesday night’s game at Iowa).

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 57.9 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 13.8 ppg.) and rebounding (4.4 to 9.3 rpg.), while scoring in double figures 27 times and grabbing double-digit rebounds on 16 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 (16, including seven against ranked teams and nine against conference foes) and has six 20-point games to her credit (career-high 23 vs. Utah State on Dec. 8).

Achonwa’s 16 double-doubles also have tied the school record set by Katryna Gaither in 1996-97. However, it took Gaither all 38 games that season to achieve that mark, something Achonwa matched in just 30 games.

Achonwa ranks among the top 20 in the BIG EAST in scoring (17th – 13.8 ppg.), rebounding (2nd – 9.3 rpg.), field goal percentage (4th – .528; also 16th nationally) and free throw percentage (11th – .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 (15.6 ppg.) and leads the conference in free throw percentage (.917). In both areas, she is posting career-high marks, including an improvement of nearly 35 percent in her scoring average from last year (11.6 ppg.).

McBride also is among the team leaders this season with 28 double-figure scoring games, including 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 career-high 26 points in a triple-overtime win on March 4 and 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 Sunday 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 32 games for the Fighting Irish this season (starting 31 times), scoring in double figures 20 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 (26th – 12.3 ppg.) and free throw percentage (3rd – .830), and would be fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (.394), but she is 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 Sunday’s NCAA Championship first-round win over 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).

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).

Anchors Aweigh
Notre Dame made a bit of women’s basketball history on Nov. 9, joining with Ohio State to play the first women’s game ever on the deck of an aircraft carrier, as the teams squared off outdoors in the second annual Carrier Classic aboard the decommissioned USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, S.C. (Charleston Harbor).

The game was played to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project, which aids returning veterans who have been injured while in the service of our country, and the Fighting Irish were exceptionally proud and honored to have former Notre Dame guard, U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Danielle Green (’00) join the team on the bench for their historic game against Ohio State. Green, who lost her left (shooting) hand in May 2004 during a rocket-propelled grenade attack while on patrol on the roof of a police station in Baghdad, Iraq, delivered an inspiring pre-game speech to the current Fighting Irish squad before they came out to face Ohio State.

Notre Dame won this year’s Carrier Classic game, 57-51, behind the second career double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) from junior forward Natalie Achonwa and 16 points from junior guard Kayla McBride. After the game, head coach Muffet McGraw said the victory was dedicated to Green.

An added postscript — Green recently accepted a job with the South Bend Veterans Administration Clinic and has relocated from her hometown of Chicago.

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 276-19 (.936) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 204 of their last 217 such contests (.940).

What’s more, in the past four seasons (2009-10 to present), Notre Dame is 113-2 (.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 277-15 (.949) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game, including 19 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 183-6 (.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 60-2 (.968) when topping the 80-point mark, having reached that level 15 times this season.

Now That’s A Home Court Advantage
One of the hallmarks of Notre Dame’s success has been its stellar play at home. In fact, the Fighting Irish have been virtually untouchable at home in recent years, winning 234 of their last 263 games (.890) at the 9,149-seat Purcell Pavilion, including winning streaks of 51, 25 and 20 games in that span (the latter ending on Feb. 12, 2012, vs. West Virginia).

Since the arena was renovated prior to the 2009-10 season, Notre Dame is 61-5 (.924) — including wins in 37 of its last 39 home games — and three of the five Fighting Irish losses in their refurbished facility have come by three points or fewer (two in overtime).

Notre Dame also has a 128-20 (.865) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the former Joyce Center, sporting a program-record 31-game league winning streak at home before it ended with a 48-45 loss to Villanova in the ’02 home finale.

The Fighting Irish have been especially strong when it comes to non-conference home games, winning 108 of their last 117 non-BIG EAST contests (.923) at Purcell Pavilion, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Five of the nine losses in that span came at the hands of Big Ten Conference opponents (four by 12 points or less) — Wisconsin in 1996 (81-69), Purdue in 2003 (71-54), Michigan State in 2004 (82-73 OT), Indiana in 2006 (54-51) and Minnesota in 2009 (79-71) — with the other defeats coming to Tennessee in 2005 (62-51) and 2008 (87-63), UCLA in 2010 (86-83 in 2OT) and Baylor in 2012 (73-61). The Purdue loss snapped a 33-game non-conference home winning streak that began after the UW setback.

Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the former Joyce Center, posting a 384-90 (.810) record at the venerable facility. Three times (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Fighting Irish went a perfect 15-0 at home, which was the school record for home victories in a season prior to the 2009-10 campaign, when Notre Dame went 16-1, a mark that lasted only two seasons before the Fighting Irish posted a 17-1 record at Purcell Pavilion last year.

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 Regional Semifinal
With a victory at Iowa, Notre Dame would move on to a NCAA Norfolk Regional semifinal on March 31, where it would take on fourth-seeded (and No. 17/14) South Carolina or 12th-seeded Kansas (those teams meet in the second round Monday night in Boulder, Colo.).

The tip time and TV coverage for the Norfolk Regional semifinal, which would be played at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the Old Dominion campus in Norfolk, Va., would be determined following the completion of all second-round games.

The Fighting Irish are 1-2 all-time against South Carolina, having won the teams’ most recent matchup, 78-55 on Nov. 27, 2009, at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Notre Dame and Kansas have never met on the hardwood.

— ND —