March 1, 2018
| ACC Tournament: No. 2 Seeded Notre Dame (27-2, 15-1) | |
| Where: | Greensboro, N.C. | Greensboro Coliseum (23,500) |
| Quarterfinal: | Friday, March 2 | 6 p.m. ET |
| Watch Quarterfinal: | RSN Watch List | ACCNE (Subject to blackout) |
| Semifinal: | Saturday, March 3 | 2:30 p.m. ET |
| Watch Semifinal: | ESPNU |
| Final: | Sunday, March 4 | 2 p.m. |
| Watch Final: | ESPN2 |
| Listen: | Pulse FM 96.9 / 92.1 | Bob Nagle (PxP) |
| Live Scoring: |
Click Here |
| Notes: | Notre Dame |
| Social: | @NDWBB |
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 5 nationally ranked University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team has one goal in mind heading into the ACC Tournament this weekend – make history. The No. 2 seeded Irish, whose ACC Tournament kicks off Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m. ET, could become the first school to sweep the ACC regular season and conference tournament titles in five consecutive years.
Friday’s quarterfinal matchup will be broadcasted across Regional Sports Networks (RSN) along with ACCN Extra (Subject to blackout). For a full list of networks, click here. The Irish will play the winner of today’s Virginia vs Georgia Tech matchup.
In addition, Notre Dame’s potential semifinal round contest would take place on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU, while the ACC title game will commence at 2 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN2.
LOOK BACK AT 2017 ACC TOURNAMENT
Notre Dame’s path to the 2017 ACC Tournament title started with a 76-59 win over Virginia in the quarterfinals, followed by an 84-73 win over Louisville. The Irish then claimed the tournament crown with an 84-61 win over Duke. The Irish averaged 81.3 points on 49.2 percent shooting in the tournament. Both Arike Ogunbowale (17.7 ppg) and Marina Mabrey (17.3) averaged over 17 points in the three games and were named to the All-ACC Tournament Team.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
A fifth straight ACC Tournament title would tie Duke for the all-time mark. The Irish are thus 12-0 in ACC Tournament games, as they chip away at another Duke record – 17 consecutive conference tournament victories.
When dating back to the final year in the Big East, the Irish conference tournament winning streak gets extended to 15-0. Overall, Notre Dame is 48-19 in conference tournament play, which includes their time in the MCC (now Horizon League), Big East and the ACC.
The Irish won their 10th overall conference tournament championship in 2017 and fifth in a row when counting the 2013 Big East Tournament. Nationally, only Notre Dame and Albany (America East) have won their conference tournament each of the past five years.
2017 also marked the eighth consecutive year the Irish have played for a conference tournament championship.
ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
Since Notre Dame and Louisville tied atop the ACC standings at 15-1, both the Irish and Cardinals were named 2018 ACC regular season champions. For Notre Dame, it marked their fifth straight ACC regular season title and seventh straight when dating back to the final two years of the Big East. Seven straight regular season titles is the third highest active streak in the country, only behind Baylor (8) and Green Bay (20). Five straight ACC regular season titles is one shy of the all-time mark set by Virginia from 1991-96.
THREE IRISH NAMED ALL-ACC
For the first time in their respective careers, juniors Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard and Marina Mabrey were all named All-ACC honorees. Ogunbowale was unanimously announced to the First Team on both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the Coaches Panel. Shepard was placed on the Blue Ribbon’s First Team but Coaches Second Team, while Mabrey was the exact opposite on the two panels.
All-in-all, it marked the third time in five years in the league that Notre Dame boasted three all-conference honorees. In addition, Notre Dame’s three honorees were the most of any ACC school.
ARIKE ACCOLADES
The last week of February has been good to Arike Ogunbowale. More impressive than her First Team All-ACC nod was the fact that Ogunbowale was named an Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Finalist, recognizing the top-five shooting guards in the country. Also in the running are Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn), Asia Durr (Louisville), Victoria Vivans (Mississippi St.) and Kitija Laksa (South Florida).
Earlier, Ogunbowale was also named as 1-of-10 semifinalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year. Four national finalists will be announced on March 16.
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