Irish Women Creating A Legacy Of Their Own Regional Title Earns Notre Dame First Trip To Women’s Final Four
In the land of The Gipper and Touchdown Jesus, women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw has gained herself a piece of Irish tradition.
“I wanted to come here because of its athletic tradition, it certainly has a very rich one,” said McGraw, whose team defeated George Washington 62-52 on Monday and reached its first NCAA Final Four. “But in women’s basketball, we knew we’d have to build it.”
Ten seasons later, she’s on her way.
Behind Katryna Gaither’s 25 points and 16 rebounds, Notre Dame (31-6) took control with a 16-3 run late in the second half.
Notre Dame built its athletic name on the Four Horseman and Knute Rockne. The last time an Irish basketball team got this far was when Digger Phelps had the men in the 1978 Final Four.
The Fighting Irish let a 10-point lead slip away, then knocked out the Colonials with a crunching run.
“We need to be tougher than we had been,” Gaither said. “We had been playing really sloppy. Then we got it going.”
After Lisa Cermingnano’s 3-pointer gave George Washington its first lead, 39-38 with 11:34 to go, Gaither rolled in a layup. Susan McMillen made a basket, Beth Morgan coverted a steal into two points and the Irish were headed to Cincinnati, the first No. 6 seed to reach the Final Four since Alabama in 1994.
The Big East’s second-leading team will play defending national champion Tennessee. The Volunteers upset No. 1 Connecticut 91-81 in the Midwest.
George Washington (28-6), seeded fifth, saw stars Tajama Abraham and Noelia Gomez struggle inside. They had 15 points each, but shot only 14 for 32. The Colonials were just 22 of 70 from the field.
“Shots we had made all season just didn’t fall,” George Washington point guard Colleen McCrae said.
When the buzzer sounded it was all Irish, from McGraw’s green nail polish to the Notre Dame fight song played again and again. McGraw rushed to her players, then jumped into the arms of husband Matt. Notre Dame’s legacy was everywhere and McGraw said it could have impact on Friday’s national semifinal.
“We’ve been told we can’t play on Good Friday,” she joked. “So we’ll have to figure that out.”
Morgan, who set a regional record with a 36-point performance in the Irish’s semifinal victory over Alabama on Saturday, had 15 points.
Kari Hutchinson of Spokane played 6 minutes for the Irish, didn’t score but did have one rebound.
Morgan and Gaither, the regional’s Most Outstanding Player, each hit their first two shots as the Irish broke on top 10-2. But it was a sloppy first half with 12 turnovers and without the crisp passes and sharp movement ND showed against Alabama.