Top-seeded Irish will meet St. Bonaventure

RALEIGH, N.C. – Notre Dame is trying not to look ahead. St. Bonaventure can’t get caught looking back.

Two teams with drastically different perspectives on the women’s NCAA tournament will meet today in one Raleigh Regional semifinal.

The top-seeded Irish (32-3) reached the round of 16 for a school-record third straight year and for the 10th time in 16 seasons, and they’re resisting the urge to peek ahead to a possible rematch with Texas A&M in the regional final. The Aggies – who play Maryland in the other semifinal – beat Notre Dame in last year’s national championship game.

“It’s incentive, because we kind of get the feeling like unfinished business all year,” Notre Dame star Skylar Diggins said Saturday.

“We saw that they were in our region, and we were like, ‘OK, it’s a potential matchup,’ but we both have to win games.”

The fifth-seeded Bonnies (31-3) don’t have any old tournament scores to settle – mainly because they’re in it for the first time.

They’ve obliterated the school’s record for victories – the old mark was 23 – and previously reeled off a school-record 18 straight wins.