Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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pletely in-control 71-58 victory versus No. 7 Florida State in the ACC champi- onship game March 8. "Tonight was the best game we played all year," McGraw said after the win versus FSU while looking forward to a fifth straight Final Four appearance. "I don't think it will be the best game we'll play." The Irish are now a remarkable 37-1 in ACC play, and avenged their lone defeat with a 77-61 thumping of Miami in the conference tourney quarterfinals. Last year, it was UConn, Notre Dame and everyone else. This year, UConn stands alone, with the Irish maybe once again the most formidable challenger because of how they are used to big- stage games with their 103-5 overall record (.954 winning percentage) the past three seasons. The AP's final regular-season poll showed Notre Dame had vanquished No. 4 Maryland (92-72), No. 6 Tennes- see (88-77), No. 7 Florida State twice, and No. 8 Louisville (68-52). It didn't have No. 3 South Carolina nor No. 5 Baylor on its schedule, but defeated the Bears in an NCAA Tournament regional final last year. Junior guard Jewell Loyd has pro- pelled the stellar campaign to the point where top ESPN analysts Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo both classify her as the National Player of the Year. In the preseason, McGraw stated that if Loyd has to average more than 20 points per game "we're not going to be very good." At the same time, she tempered the remark by noting "there are going to be games where we need her to score a lot." Notre Dame seemed to find that 2014-15 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 14 UMass Lowell W, 105-51 Nov. 19 at Michigan State W, 71-63 Nov. 21 Chattanooga W, 88-53 Nov. 23 Holy Cross# W, 104-29 Nov. 24 Harvard# W, 97-43 Nov. 25 Quinnipiac# W, 112-52 Nov. 30 vs. Kansas@ W, 89-47 Dec. 3 vs. Maryland& W, 92-72 Dec. 6 Connecticut! L, 76-58 Dec. 10 at DePaul W, 94-93 (OT) Dec. 13 Michigan W, 70-50 Dec. 21 Saint Joseph's W, 64-50 Dec. 28 at UCLA W, 82-67 Jan. 2 Florida State* W, 74-68 Jan. 4 at Syracuse* W, 85-74 Jan. 8 at Miami* L, 78-63 Jan. 11 Boston College* W, 104-58 Jan. 15 at North Carolina* W, 89-79 Jan. 19 Tennessee W, 88-77 Jan. 22 Georgia Tech* W, 89-76 Jan. 24 at Clemson* W, 74-36 Jan. 29 at Virginia Tech* W, 74-50 Feb. 1 Wake Forest* W, 92-63 Feb. 5 Virginia* W, 75-54 Feb. 8 at Boston College* W, 89-56 Feb. 16 Duke W, 63-50 Feb. 19 at Georgia Tech W, 71-61 Feb. 23 Louisville W, 68-52 Feb. 26 Pittsburgh W, 87-59 Mar. 1 at NC State W, 67-60 Mar. 6 vs. Miami$ W, 77-61 Mar. 7 vs. Duke$ W, 55-49 Mar. 8 vs. Florida State$ W, 71-58 Mar. 20-23 NCAA Tournament TBD * Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge at campus sites; ^ Naismith Memorial Bas- ketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge at Mohe- gan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.; @ ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.; ! Jimmy V Women's Classic; $ at Greensboro, N.C.