March 30, 2013
Tourney Central | Game Notes | Pre-Game Quotes 
| McBride Feature
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – Point guards are taking center stage at the Norfolk Regional of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Skylar Diggins of top-seeded Notre Dame leads the way, but she’ll be facing off in Sunday’s semifinals against 5-foot-4 speed demon Angel Goodrich, who helped make Kansas just the second No. 12 seed to ever get this far in the women’s tournament.
“It’s a marquee matchup,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. “It will be exciting.”
The other matchup has Lindsay Moore coming off a 20-point, 10-assist effort that led Nebraska past Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home floor, and Duke countering with the rookie in the group in Alexis Jones, whose nine games at the point include three that made her the ACC tournament MVP.
The star of the show, though, figures to be Diggins, she of the trademark white headband, 16.8 scoring average, 5.9 assists per game and court sense that has helped the Fighting Irish (33-1) reach the national title game the past two seasons.
Two years ago, they lost 76-70 to Texas A&M. Last year, they fell to Baylor, 80-61.
“Kalia Turner and I, we understand that this is our last go-round,” Diggins said, speaking also of her co-captain, the only other senior on the Fighting Irish roster. “In that sense, we are anxious.”
McGraw senses a difference between this team and the last two.
“There is a tremendous sense of urgency starting with Skylar and our seniors because this is the last chance for them,” the coach, who won the 2001 national championship, said. “Definitely I think the sense of urgency they feel is greater now.”
Diggins said she has watched Goodrich’s career progress, and adds, “I am a fan.”
But when the ball goes up on Sunday at Old Dominion’s Constant Center, it’s business.
“For me, I’m not worried about what she is doing,” Diggins said of her counterpart, who is 5 inches shorter. “It’s about executing stout defense and our offensive plan versus them. If I do my job, then she didn’t do hers.”
In many ways, Goodrich already has done her job at Kansas (20-13). The Jayhawks had only reached the regional round twice in their history when she arrived, and now have done it in the last two seasons. Only San Francisco, in 1996, has come this far as a No. 12 seed since the women’s tournament went to a seeding format in 1994.
“I have been at Kansas for a while and just leaving a legacy – I think what we all wanted to do is come here and make a difference at Kansas, and I feel we’ve done that as a group,” Goodrich said.