WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
A challenging slate
could aid a sixth straight
trip to the Final Four
BY LOU SOMOGYI
A
fter five straight appearances in the
Final Four, four of them in the cham-
pionship game, the Notre Dame wom-
en's basketball program has developed
a comfort zone in March and April.
It begins with being out of their com-
fort zone from November through Feb-
ruary with a challenging non-conference
schedule and several top road tests.
This year's recently released schedule
opens with Bucknell Nov. 15 after an
exhibition contest the week prior versus
Wayne State. The initial road trip will be
to South Dakota State, which the Irish
defeated in the NCAA Tournament last
year, followed by an about-face in cli-
mate during Thanksgiving weekend at
the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. One
of its opponents there could be UCLA,
last year's WNIT champion that signed
the nation's top recruiting class two
years ago.
December roars in by hosting Ohio
State, which was 24-11 last year and
advanced to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament under second-year
head coach Kevin McGuff, who was on
Fighting Irish head coach Muffet Mc-
Graw's staff during the 2001 national
title season.
Three days later, the Irish travel to
three-time defending champ Connecti-
cut, favored to win its fourth straight
national title, followed by two-time de-
fending Big East champ DePaul, and
then a trip to TCU, which could help
the Fighting Irish make more recruiting
inroads in Texas.
After final exams and Christmas
break, the Irish travel to McGraw's alma
mater St. Joseph's (Pa.) before hosting
Pac-12 regular-season champion Oregon
State.
"We have always followed the idea
that our non-conference schedule pre-
Many Roads To Travel
Junior guard Lindsay Allen is one of four starters
returning for another strong Notre Dame team.
PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND
