Apr 2, 2013; Norfolk, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish players celebrate after their game against the Duke Blue Devils in the 2013 NCAA womens basketball tournament at Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Fighting Irish won 87-76. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Muffet McGraw’s Irish defeated the Duke Blue Devils with a 56-39 2nd half to advance to the Final Four for the 3rd year in a row.

After being limited in the first half because of foul trouble, Skylar Diggins scored 24 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Diggins was named Regional Most Outstanding Player.

Notre Dame star Kayla McBride added 18 points and 7 assists as well. Loyd and Achonwa each added 17 points. Achonwa had 13 rebounds.

The Blue Devils were lead by Tricia Liston who scored 19 points and collected 6 rebounds.

Notre Dame will face Connecticut for the fourth time the season. The Irish won each of the three previous meetings. In the first game, the Irish defeated the Huskies in Storrs by the score of 73-72. The season finale saw a 3 OT thriller in which Notre Dame defeated the Irish 96-87. In the third match-up, the Irish beat Huskies to win its first Big East Tournament. Skylar Diggins made a steal and found Natalie Achonwa with 1.8 seconds to give the Irish the lead. It is almost guaranteed that Notre Dame-Connecticut Part IV will go down to the wire.

The game will air at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN on Sunday. Louisville and California will join the Irish and Huskies in New Orleans for the Final Four. They will play the early game at 6:30 p.m.

April 1, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Skylar Diggins (left) defends against Connecticut Huskies forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (23) during the second half in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA women

The Women’s Basketball Team took care of business tonight in Denver as they squeaked out a close win against the Connecticut Huskies 83-75.   The Huskies took the lead with only eleven seconds left in regulation, but Notre Dame’s Natalie Novosel was able to score with only four seconds left on the clock!  It was a spectaular game, Brittany Mallory hit a couple huge three point shots to put the Irish ahead in the waning minutes of overtime.  Thiss was the first game of the tournament the Irish did not win by double-digits.  Skylar Diggins once again had a huge game with 20 points, but game honors has to go to Deveraux Peters who had a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.  The Irish were able to play great defense throughout the game, which lead to the Huskies turning the ball over twenty-one times.  Notre Dame was able to take control of the game in overtime after Connecticut made several mistakes including a turnover by Connecticut’s Kelly Faris.

The Irish will now wait to face the winner of the Stanford-Baylor game in the National Championship.  Either opponent will be a tough matchup for Coach Mcgraw and company, which ever team the Irish face they will have to rebound well.  The National Championship will be televised on ESPN on Tuesday, April 3rd at 8:30 p.m. eastern time. Follow us on Twitter @Slap The Sign and on Facebook (Slap The Sign).

Jan 29, 2012; Hartford, CT, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Eric Atkins (0) celebrates with teammates after defeating the Connecticut Huskies at the XL Center. Notre Dame defeated the Huskies 50-48. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

The Men’s Basketball Team comes up with another big win in conference play!  Improving their record to 14-8 and 6-3 in the Big East; the Irish beat Connecticut in a thriller.  Jeremy Lamb, of the Connecticut Huskies, missed a floater to tie the game up to send it to overtime.   The Irish controlled the second half, coming out on fire by going on a 13-2 run in the first seven minutes of the second half.  With thirteen minutes left in the game the Irish came up with two steals and four points which seemed to silent the crowd for most of the second half.  Shabazz Napier was held to only four points, which was one the biggest reasons for the Irish win.  Lead by the play of Eric Atkins Jerian Grant who has seemed to come on as of late, the Irish will look to take on Marquette next. (more…)