2017–18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by thirty-first year head coach Muffet McGraw, played their home games at Edmund P. Joyce Center as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. McGraw was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame at the start of the season. The Irish finished the season 35–3, 15–1 in ACC play to earn a share of the regular season championship. They defeated Virginia and Florida State before losing to Louisville in the ACC Women's Tournament championship. They received an at-large bid as the No. 1 seed in the Spokane region. They defeated Cal State Northridge and Villanova to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they defeated Texas A&M and Oregon to advance to the Final Four. After upsetting then-unbeaten Connecticut 91–89 in overtime in the Final Four, Notre Dame played Mississippi State in the national championship. The Irish edged the Bulldogs 61–58 by Arike Ogunbowale's three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, capturing their second national title in 18 years. The Irish became the first team in NCAA Women's Basketball history to trail by double digits in both the semifinal and National Championship games and come back to win.

2017–18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
NCAA Tournament National Champions
ACC regular season co-champions
Gulf Coast Showcase champions
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 5
2017–18 record35–3 (15–1 ACC)
Head coach
Associate head coachCarol Owens (18th season)
Assistant coaches
Home arenaEdmund P. Joyce Center
2017–18 ACC women's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 3 Louisville *†151 .938  363  .923
No. 5 Notre Dame151 .938  353  .921
No. 11 Florida State124 .750  267  .788
No. 21 NC State115 .688  269  .743
No. 20 Duke115 .688  249  .727
Syracuse106 .625  229  .710
Miami (FL)106 .625  2111  .656
Virginia106 .625  1914  .576
Virginia Tech610 .375  2314  .622
Georgia Tech610 .375  2014  .588
Wake Forest511 .313  1417  .452
North Carolina412 .250  1516  .484
Pittsburgh214 .125  1020  .333
Boston College214 .125  723  .233
Clemson115 .063  1119  .367
2018 ACC Tournament winner
*Tournament #1 seed
As of 31 March 2018; Rankings from AP Poll

Despite the team's record, its appearance in the championship game was seen as surprising because of its severely depleted roster. Two players missed the entire season to torn ACLs, and two others were lost to the same injury in December; this rash of injuries left the Irish with only seven scholarship players. Brianna Turner, an All-American forward in 2016–17, was injured in the 2017 NCAA tournament; senior guard Mychal Johnson was lost in a preseason practice, freshman center Mikayla Vaughn only played 6 games; and starting senior point guard Lili Thompson was lost on New Year's Eve. Before the championship game, McGraw told media, "I didn't think we'd have more ACL tears than losses. I think it's just an amazing accomplishment for this team and the resilience they've shown all year."[1][2]

Offseason

Departures

NameNumberPos.HeightYearHometownNotes
Lindsay Allen15G5'8"SeniorMitchellville, MDGraduated
Erin Boley22F6'2"FreshmanHodgenville, KYTransferred to Oregon[3]
Ali Patberg20G5'10"SophomoreColumbus, INTransferred to Indiana
Diamond Thompson35C6'5"SeniorWheaton, ILGraduated

Roster

2017–18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
|walk-on}} |walk-on}}
Pos.#NameHeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 1 Lilli Thompson  5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS SrTimberview
Stanford
Mansfield, TX
G 2 Kaitlin Cole 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) SoSylvania Northview Toledo, OH
G 3 Marina Mabrey 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) JrManasquan Belmar, NJ
G 5 Jackie Young 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SoPrinceton Community Princeton, IN
F 11 Brianna Turner   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) SrManvel Pearland, TX
G 14 Mychal Johnson   5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) SrHuntington St. Joseph Huntington, WV
G 20 Nicole Benz (W) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) FrWilliam S. Hart Valencia, CA
F 21 Kristina Nelson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS SrBuford Buford, GA
F 23 Jessica Shepard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) JrFremont
Nebraska
Fremont, NE
G 24 Arike Ogunbowale 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) JrDivine Savior Holy Angels Milwaukee, WI
C 30 Mikayla Vaughn   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) FrPaul VI Catholic Philadelphia, PA
F 32 Danielle Patterson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) FrThe Mary Louis Academy Brooklyn, NY
F 33 Kathryn Westbeld 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) SrKetting Fairmount Kettering, OH
F 40 Maureen Butler 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) JrDearborn Divine Child Livonia, MI
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Media

All Notre Dame games will air on WHPZ Pulse 96.9 FM. Games are streamed online live.

Rankings

Regular Season Polls
PollPre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP 6 6 6 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 N/A
Coaches 5 N/A 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 6 6 1 (32)
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 01, 2017*
7:00 pm
No. 6 Indiana (PA) W 108–40 
Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,268)
South Bend, IN
Regular season
Nov 11, 2017*
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 6 Mount St. Mary's W 121–65  1–0
Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,418)
South Bend, IN
Nov 14, 2017*
8:00 pm, FCS
No. 6 at Western Kentucky W 78–65  2–0
E. A. Diddle Arena (5,061)
Bowling Green, KY
Nov 19, 2017*
2:00 pm, P12N
No. 6 at No. 18 Oregon State W 72–67  3–0
Gill Coliseum (7,570)
Corvallis, OR
Nov 24, 2017*
7:30 pm
No. 6 vs. East Tennessee State
Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals
W 77–46  4–0
Germain Arena 
Fort Myers, FL
Nov 25, 2017*
7:30 pm
No. 6 vs. No. 17 South Florida
Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals
W 76–66  5–0
Germain Arena 
Fort Myers, FL
Nov 26, 2017*
7:30 pm
No. 6 vs. No. 3 South Carolina
Gulf Coast Showcase finals
W 92–85  6–0
Germain Arena 
Fort Myers, FL
Nov 29, 2017*
6:00 pm, BTN
No. 3 at No. 22 Michigan
ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge
W 83–63  7–0
Crisler Center (3,100)
Ann Arbor, MI
Dec 03, 2017*
4:00 pm, ESPN
No. 3 at No. 1 Connecticut
Jimmy V Classic/Rivalry
L 71–80  7–1
XL Center (15,564)
Hartford, CT
Dec 06, 2017*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 3 Michigan State W 90–59  8–1
Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149)
South Bend, IN
Dec 09, 2017*
1:00 pm, ILDN
No. 3 at Penn W 66–54  9–1
Palestra (1,647)
Philadelphia, PA
Dec 17, 2017*
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 DePaul W 91–82  10–1
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,503)
South Bend, IN
Dec 20, 2017*
3:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 Marquette W 91–85 OT 11–1
Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,456)
South Bend, IN
Dec 28, 2017
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 Syracuse W 87–72  12–1
(1–0)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,288)
South Bend, IN
Dec 31, 2017
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 at Wake Forest W 96–73  13–1
(2–0)
LVJM Coliseum (731)
Winston-Salem, NC
Jan 04, 2018
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 Miami (FL) W 83–76  14–1
(3–0)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,828)
South Bend, IN
Jan 07, 2018
2:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 at Georgia Tech W 77–54  15–1
(4–0)
McCamish Pavilion (1,601)
Atlanta, GA
Jan 11, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 2 at No. 3 Louisville L 67–100  15–2
(4–1)
KFC Yum! Center (12,614)
Louisville, KY
Jan 14, 2018
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 2 Boston College W 89–60  16–2
(5–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,208)
South Bend, IN
Jan 18, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 5 No. 6 Tennessee W 84–70  17–2
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,733)
South Bend, IN
Jan 21, 2018
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 Clemson W 90–37  18–2
(6–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,479)
South Bend, IN
Jan 25, 2018
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 at Pittsburgh W 87–53  19–2
(7–1)
Petersen Events Center (760)
Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 28, 2018
4:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 5 at No. 8 Florida State W 100–69  20–2
(8–1)
Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (9,498)
Tallahassee, FL
Feb 01, 2018
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 North Carolina W 94–62  21–2
(9–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,617)
South Bend, IN
Feb 04, 2018
1:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 5 at No. 19 Duke W 72–54  22–2
(10–1)
Cameron Indoor Stadium (5,724)
Durham, NC
Feb 11, 2018
1:00 pm, RSN
No. 5 Georgia Tech W 85–69  23–2
(11–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,421)
South Bend, IN
Feb 15, 2018
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 at Virginia W 83–69  24–2
(12–1)
John Paul Jones Arena (3,038)
Charlottesville, VA
Feb 18, 2018
1:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 at Boston College W 89–55  25–2
(13–1)
Conte Forum (2,009)
Chestnut Hill, MA
Feb 22, 2018
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 Virginia Tech W 89–59  26–2
(14–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,053)
South Bend, IN
Feb 25, 2018
2:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 5 No. 21 NC State W 86–67  27–2
(15–1)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,786)
South Bend, IN
ACC Women's Tournament
Mar 02, 2018
6:00 pm, ACCN Extra
(2) No. 5 vs. (7) Virginia
Quarterfinals
W 83–47  28–2
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
Mar 03, 2018
2:30 pm, ESPNU
(2) No. 5 vs. (3) No. 11 Florida State
Semifinals
W 90–80  29–2
Greensboro Coliseum (6,160)
Greensboro, NC
Mar 04, 2018
2:00 pm, ESPN2
(2) No. 5 vs. (1) No. 4 Louisville
Championship
L 72–74  29–3
Greensboro Coliseum (7,424)
Greensboro, NC
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 16, 2018*
5:00 pm, ESPN2
(1 S) No. 5 (16 S) Cal State Northridge
First Round
W 99–81  30–3
Edmund P. Joyce Center 
South Bend, IN
Mar 18, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN
(1 S) No. 5 (9 S) Villanova
Second Round
W 98–72  31–3
Edmund P. Joyce Center (4,249)
South Bend, IN
Mar 24, 2018*
4:00 pm, ESPN
(1 S) No. 5 vs. (4 S) No. 14 Texas A&M
Sweet Sixteen
W 90–84  32–3
Spokane Arena 
Spokane, WA
Mar 26, 2018*
9:00 pm, ESPN
(1 S) No. 5 vs. (2 S) No. 6 Oregon
Elite Eight
W 84–74  33–3
Spokane Arena (5,226)
Spokane, WA
Mar 30, 2018*
9:00 pm, ESPN2
(1 S) No. 5 vs. (1 A) No. 1 Connecticut
Final Four/Rivalry
W 91–89 OT 34–3
Nationwide Arena (19,564)
Columbus, OH
Apr 01, 2018*
6:00 pm, ESPN
(1 S) No. 5 vs. (1 KC) No. 4 Mississippi State
Championship Game
W 61–58  35–3
Nationwide Arena (19,599)
Columbus, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane Region.
All times are in Eastern.

Source[4]

References

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