Sept. 7, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2001 NCAA national champion Notre Dame women’s basketball team will play 10 teams which reached postseason, including seven NCAA Tournament squads, as part of a rugged 2001-02 schedule which was released Friday.
Highlighting this year’s schedule is a nationally-televised showdown against BIG EAST Conference rival and NCAA Final Four participant Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center. The Irish took two of three meetings from the Huskies last season, including a 90-75 come-from-behind victory in the NCAA national semifinals, helping to propel Notre Dame to its first national championship. This season’s Notre Dame-UConn battle will take place on Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 21) at 3 p.m. (EST) and is slated to air live on ESPN.
Led by 2001 Naismith Coach of the Year Muffet McGraw, the Irish will begin defense of their NCAA title on Sunday, Nov. 18, when they welcome Valparaiso to the Joyce Center. Notre Dame will then embark on a two-game Thanksgiving road swing to visit Mountain West Conference tournament champion Colorado State (Nov. 21) and Arizona (Nov. 24). CSU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, while UA reached the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
Following a home date with Army (Nov. 26), the Irish will square off with a pair of Big Ten Conference foes. On Dec. 2, Notre Dame will meet Michigan at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., in the second half of a doubleheader which will also feature Michigan State and Marquette. Then, four days later, Notre Dame will venture south to West Lafayette, Ind., to tangle with Purdue in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament championship game, which was won by the Irish, 68-66.
Notre Dame returns home on Dec. 9 to open up a three-game homestand with USC. The Irish will also play host to Western Michigan (Dec. 12) and Marquette (Dec. 22) before breaking for the Christmas holidays. Notre Dame will close out the calendar year with a game at Rice (Dec. 28) and a New Year’s Eve home date against DePaul. The Blue Demons reached the second round of the WNIT a year ago.
The BIG EAST schedule kicks off in earnest in January, beginning with a trip to Miami on Jan. 2. Other highlights of the conference schedule include visits to NCAA second-round qualifiers Villanova (Jan. 12) and Rutgers (Feb. 16), as well as WNIT invitee Georgetown (Feb. 23). Notre Dame also has home games scheduled with NCAA participant Virginia Tech (Jan. 26), perennial NCAA qualifier Boston College (Feb. 10), and a return encounter with Villanova (Feb. 26). The BIG EAST Championship is set for March 2-5 on the Rutgers University campus in Piscataway, N.J.