Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/276022
Notre Dame Cruises To ACC Title Selection Monday on March 17 will have one primary theme: Will women's college basketball eventu- ally have its first unbeaten showdown ever in the NCAA championship game between No. 1 Connecticut (34-0) and No. 2 Notre Dame (32-0)? UConn enters The Big Dance with 40 consecutive victories — with its last loss to the Fighting Irish in the 2013 Big East Tournament title game. Notre Dame has won 62 of its last 63 contests — with the lone loss in last year's Final Four to the Huskies. Both teams have defeated at least 11 ranked op- ponents this year. UConn's average margin of vic- tory has been about 34 points, while Notre Dame's was 25.6 points. Thirty of the 32 Irish victories were by double digits. UConn's closest contest was a 66- 55 win Jan. 13 at Baylor, which was ranked No. 7 at the end of the regular season. The ACC Tournament from March 5-9 was mainly a coronation of the first team to finish 19-0 in the ACC (regular season and tournament) since Duke in 2002-03. After earning a double bye, the Fighting Irish dispatched Florida State (83-57) and No. 14 North Carolina State (83-48), whose top player was in- jured, before defeating No. 10 Duke 69-53 in the final at Greensboro, N.C. Tied 28-28 at halftime against No. 10 Duke and then falling behind 32-28, Notre Dame went on a 12-0 spurt propelled by sophomore Jewell Loyd, who was named the tournament MVP. Loyd scored 18 of her game-high 26 points in the second half, highlighted by her 8-0 run — a three, a pull-up jumper and another three — after the Irish had fallen behind. Her best play of the night came a couple minutes later when on a fast break she took an alley-oop pass from freshman Lindsay Allen, kept control of her body while going full speed, and banked in the basket for a 42-34 lead. Duke never was able to cut its deficit to less than eight, the last time at 50-42 before sophomore Michaela Mabrey drained a three to provide an 11-point cushion for the Irish. Senior guard Kayla McBride, who scored a career-high 31 points against Duke in Notre Dame's 81-70 victory Feb. 23, tallied 25 points this time, 15 in the first half while she carried the Irish offense. Already classified by 27th-year head coach Muffet McGraw as the best athlete she's ever coached, Loyd also pulled in seven rebounds, and had three steals, two assists and no turnovers. — Lou Somogyi Sophomore Jewell Loyd won the ACC Tournament MVP award after her game-high 26 points against Duke in the title game spurred the Irish to a championship in their first season in the new league. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS