Muffet Mcgraw

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Plenty can happen on a basketball court in 4.4 seconds. Far from desperation. More like urgency. Notre Dame's women's team seemed to panic a bit Sunday night in the closing ticks of its 77-72 NCAA tournament Kansas City Regional semifinal loss to Oklahoma. Overtime, the Sooners leading by three, and the Irish with the ball under the Oklahoma basket with 4.4 seconds to play. Crunch time. Put up or go home. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw called back-to-back timeouts to strategize the situation.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Skylar Diggins found another way to beat Connecticut - maybe the toughest way yet. The second-ranked Fighting Irish trailed by six in the first overtime Monday night, then five in the second overtime before finally beating the third-ranked Huskies 96-87 in three overtimes Monday night to win Big East regular-season title outright for the second straight year. "We were done in regulation and the first and second overtimes. We just clawing away and got them to miss some free throws," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said.

When Notre Dame fell behind 20-10 in their second-round game against Vermont on Tuesday night, Muffet McGraw was anxious to see how her team would respond. She didn't have to wait long. Notre Dame ended the Vermont dancing, rocking the Catamounts with a 27-10 run to close the second half. The Irish went on to post an 84-66 victory. “It kind of helps you sometimes when you get down,” said McGraw, who is leading her team to the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time since 1997. “When you're losing, it's a situation where you really have to know how to handle adversity.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw was hoping for a fast start Tuesday night against Louisville to erase the memories of a tough loss last Saturday at No. 1 Connecticut. What McGraw got was a torrid finish as her No. 4-ranked Irish used a strong second half to defeat Louisville, 78-60, Tuesday night at Freedom Hall in college women’s basketball. What McGraw also got was victory No. 600 in her career. McGraw, who coached Notre Dame to the national title in 2001, is 600-239 in 28 seasons.

She remembers all of those moments walking into the Notre Dame women’s basketball locker room to hear coach Muffet McGraw put a victory into perspective. She can recall the teaching moments with McGraw that didn’t stop when the final horn blared. Megan Duffy, who played at Notre Dame from 2002-2006, soaked up the basketball lessons - and the life lessons - and she’ll be putting them to use on the St. John’s bench as an assistant coach Tuesday night when No. 4-ranked Notre Dame invades Carnesecca Arena in Jamaica, N.Y. Notre Dame may be playing without starting guard Lindsay Schrader, who averages 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

SOUTH BEND -- Rattling off a litany of adjectives, Lindsay Schrader struggled to put Notre Dame's approach to the NCAA Tournament in perspective. This is her last go-'round. Sunday, the fifth-year senior will lead the Irish women's basketball team into the 64-team field for the final time. She talked about emotion. Energy. Spunk. Swagger. "From now on, it could be the last basketball game of my life," the 6-foot Schrader said Monday night. "I'm playing for Sunday (against Cleveland State)

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Oranges and reds streaked across the sky as the sun set over Charleston, S.C., and a brown pelican majestically flew a few yards behind the basket, a stunning backdrop to the second half of the college women's basketball game being played between Notre Dame and Ohio State on the deck of the USS Yorktown on Friday. Notre Dame and Ohio State tipped off the women's basketball season as the first women's teams to be part of the Carrier Classic, a Veterans Day weekend event that benefits the Wounded Warrior Project.

A set jaw that reveals gritty determination. The stance of a predator ready to pounce. When Notre Dame guard Brittany Mallory goes into lockdown mode on defense, ballhandlers can tell at one glance they’ll be dribbling into a storm of full-scale intensity. That’s what the DePaul Blue Demons can face Sunday when they take on Notre Dame in a game dedicated to the Pink Zone efforts to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. Mallory, a 5-foot-10 junior from Baltimore, has been a major reason No. 4 Notre Dame’s defense has made life miserable for opponents.

Erica Williamson doesn’t have any trouble recalling Notre Dame’s 82-70 loss to Pittsburgh last season in a college women’s basketball showdown. The bruises have faded, but the memories are just as painful. Williamson, a 6-foot-4 senior, will try to make sure that the Irish aren’t the ones with ice bags taped to their arms this time after Saturday’s Big East battle. Last season, Shayla Scott (6-foot-1) and Pepper Wilson (6-6) hammered Notre Dame for 18 and 12 rebounds, respectively, in a physical contest.