# 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.
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."

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Lindsay Allen | 15 | G | 5'8" | Senior | Mitchellville, MD | Graduated |
| Erin Boley | 22 | F | 6'2" | Freshman | Hodgenville, KY | Transferred to Oregon |
| Ali Patberg | 20 | G | 5'10" | Sophomore | Columbus, IN | Transferred to Indiana |
| Diamond Thompson | 35 | C | 6'5" | Senior | Wheaton, IL | Graduated |

## Media

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

## Rankings

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. ||||||
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