Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year — picked up her second foul just 2:38 into the contest and had to sit the majority of the game, totaling 15 minutes, seven points and three rebounds. She picked up two more fouls in the first five minutes of the second half. "That destroyed our game plan," • Low-post mainstay Peters — the McGraw lamented. "… It would have been great to see Devereaux play 39 minutes, but I'm not sure it would have changed a lot. [Griner's] hard to stop." • Honorable mention All-American guard Natalie Novosel, whose clutch rebound and basket with 4.6 seconds left in regulation two days earlier against Connecticut made possible the overtime victory, was 0 of 11 from the field and had just five points on 5-of-8 shooting from the line. "They did a really good job on me defensively," said Novosel, who ranks 10th on the program's all-time scoring list (1,569 points). "They always had a hand in my face or as I was going off the dribble. Trying to get to the rim, Griner's right there, so it was a tough night." • Mallory, who nailed two crucial threes in overtime during the victory over UConn, was also held in check with three points. Peters' early foul trouble helped Junior guard Skylar Diggins scored 20 points in the national championship game, but it wasn't enough to keep the Irish from falling one game short of their ultimate goal for the second straight year. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT/LIGHTHOUSE IMAGING thing they did to get to this point," Diggins said. Notre Dame became the sixth women's program ever to make back- to-back title games, joining Louisi- ana Tech (1982-83 and 1987-88), USC (1983-84), Auburn (1988-90), Tennes- see (1995-98, 2003-04 and 2007-08) and Connecticut (2002-04 and 2009-10). Like Butler on the men's side in 2010 and 2011, the Irish fell one game short of the brass ring both times. For Date Opponent March 18 Liberty* March 20 California* The Road To Denver Notre Dame In The NCAA Tournament Result March 25 vs. St. Bonaventure^ W, 79-35 March 27 vs. Maryland^ April 1 April 3 W, 74-43 W, 73-62 vs. Connecticut$ W, 83-75 (OT) vs. Baylor$ W, 80-49 L, 80-61 * at Purcell Pavillion; ^ at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.; $ Final Four at the Pepsi Center in Denver 48 MAY 2012 decades hereafter, those Butler teams in retrospect will become more ex- alted. Chances are these Lady Irish will as well. Notre Dame was "2 Good," except for one opponent. INTO THE GRIN(D)ER 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks — plus about a dozen altered shots — for the Bears. She busted the game open in the second half when she con- verted her first seven field goals (11 of 16 overall) despite being surrounded by two or three Irish defenders most of the time. "As a post player, she's the best I've ever seen," McGraw said afterwards. Diggins was the lone constant for The peerless Griner finished with Baylor build a 20-10 lead. After Dig- gins picked up her second foul with 8:18 left in the first half and temporar- ily sat, the Bears expanded the ad- vantage to 29-15. When McGraw then had to re-insert her dynamic outside- inside combination of Diggins and Pe- ters, Notre Dame gradually whittled away and cut the halftime deficit to 34-28. The turning point came at the 15:09 mark of the second half when Baylor led only 42-39 and Notre Dame had the ball with a chance to tie. However, Peters was whistled for her fourth foul for setting an illegal screen on Baylor guard Odyssey Sims (19 points), and then Sims drilled a three on the other end to make it 45-39. From there, the Bears gradually pulled away. When Griner made her seventh the Irish and finished with 20 points, while sophomore Kayla McBride added 11. Unfortunately, it was a nightmare outing for three Irish play- ers in their final game: straight field goal without a miss, it was 61-48 before Diggins made a layup. From there, Baylor sealed it with a 14-0 spurt to make it 75-50. The Bears converted 15 of their first 20 field goal attempts in the second half en route to making history. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED