# 2000–01 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

The 2000–01 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2000–01 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by fourteenth-year head coach Muffet McGraw, played their home games at Edmund P. Joyce Center as members of the Big East Conference. The Irish finished the season 34–2, 15–1 in Big East play to earn a share of the regular season championship. They defeated Virginia and Florida State before losing to UConn in the Big East Women's Tournament championship. Notre Dame received an at-large bid as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest (Denver) region. They defeated Alcorn State and Michigan to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they defeated Utah and Vanderbilt to advance to the Final Four. The Fighting Irish exacted some revenge over the No. 1 UConn Huskies in the Final Four, then defeated the No. 3 seed from the Mideast region, 9th ranked Purdue, in the national championship. The Irish edged the Boilermakers 68–66 to capture the program's first national title.
The Fighting Irish opened the season ranked No. 6 in the AP poll. After 18 wins without a defeat, including a comfortable win over No. 1 UConn, Notre Dame rose to the No. 1 ranking. The team went on to win their first 23 games before losing 54–53 at Rutgers.
Senior center Ruth Riley was named Big East Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year, and earned her second straight First-team All-American honor.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 5, 2000* | No. 6 | Ohio All-Stars | W 91–56 | – | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| November 14, 2000* | No. 6 | Tapiolan Honka | W 98–53 | – | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 17, 2000* | No. 6 | at Valparaiso | W 71–46 | 1–0 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,018) Valparaiso, Indiana |
| November 20, 2000* | No. 5 | Arizona | W 95–65 | 2–0 | Joyce Center (3,082) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| November 22, 2000* | No. 5 | at No. 19 Wisconsin | W 83–56 | 3–0 | Kohl Center (6,943) Madison, Wisconsin |
| November 24, 2000* ESPN | No. 5 | vs. No. 6 Georgia | W 75–73 | 4–0 | Kohl Center (6,851) Madison, Wisconsin |
| November 27, 2000* | No. 4 | Fordham | W 89–44 | 5–0 | Joyce Center (3,107) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| December 3, 2000* ESPN2 | No. 4 | vs. North Carolina | W 78–55 | 6–0 | (1,972) Orlando, Florida |
| December 6, 2000 | No. 4 | Villanova | W 64–33 | 7–0 (1–0) | Joyce Center (3,168) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| December 9, 2000* | No. 4 | No. 6 Purdue | W 72–61 | 8–0 | Joyce Center (7,330) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| December 18, 2000* | No. 3 | Western Michigan | W 84–54 | 9–0 | Joyce Center (3,108) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| December 21, 2000* | No. 3 | at Marquette | W 75–56 | 10–0 | U.S. Cellular Arena (2,412) Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| December 28, 2000* | No. 3 | at USC | W 70–61 | 11–0 | L.A. Sports Arena (2,178) Los Angeles, California |
| December 31, 2000* | No. 3 | Rice | W 80–40 | 12–0 | Joyce Center (4,060) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| January 3, 2001 | No. 3 | at Virginia Tech | W 75–64 | 13–0 (2–0) | Cassell Coliseum (3,418) Blacksburg, Virginia |
| January 6, 2001 | No. 3 | No. 9 Rutgers | W 67–46 | 14–0 (3–0) | Joyce Center (5,227) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| January 9, 2001 | No. 3 | St. John's | W 75–55 | 15–0 (4–0) | Carnesecca Arena (385) New York, New York |
| January 13, 2001 | No. 3 | Virginia Tech | W 75–55 | 16–0 (5–0) | Joyce Center (5,873) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| January 15, 2001 | No. 3 | No. 1 Connecticut | W 92–76 | 17–0 (6–0) | Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| January 21, 2001 | No. 3 | at Seton Hall | W 72–47 | 18–0 (7–0) | Walsh Gymnasium (1,273) South Orange, New Jersey |
| January 24, 2001 | No. 1 | at West Virginia | W 87–64 | 19–0 (8–0) | WVU Coliseum (364) Morgantown, West Virginia |
| January 31, 2001 | No. 1 | Providence | W 64–44 | 20–0 (9–0) | Joyce Center (6,131) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| February 3, 2001 | No. 1 | at Boston College | W 81–65 | 21–0 (10–0) | Conte Forum (5,429) Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts |
| February 7, 2001 | No. 1 | Pittsburgh | W 72–58 | 22–0 (11–0) | Joyce Center (7,025) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| February 14, 2001 | No. 1 | at Syracuse | W 75–61 | 23–0 (12–0) | Manley Field House (1,627) Syracuse, New York |
| February 17, 2001 | No. 1 | at No. 11 Rutgers | L 53–54 | 23–1 (12–1) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,587) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| February 20, 2001 | No. 2 | Miami (FL) | W 81–43 | 24–1 (13–1) | Joyce Center (6,533) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| February 24, 2001 | No. 2 | Georgetown | W 65–53 | 25–1 (14–1) | Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| February 27, 2001 | No. 1 | at Pittsburgh | W 82–63 | 26–1 (15–1) | Fitzgerald Field House (2,050) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2001* | No. 1 | vs. Georgetown Quarterfinals | W 89–33 | 27–1 | Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut |
| March 5, 2001* | No. 1 | vs. Virginia Tech Semifinals | W 67–49 | 28–1 | Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut |
| March 6, 2001* | No. 1 | at No. 2 Connecticut Championship game | L 76–78 | 28–2 | Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2001* | (1 MW) No. 2 | (16 MW) Alcorn State First round | W 98–49 | 29–2 | Joyce Center (8,553) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| March 19, 2001* | (1 MW) No. 2 | (8 MW) Michigan Second round | W 88–54 | 30–2 | Joyce Center (9,597) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| March 24, 2001* | (1 MW) No. 2 | (5 MW) No. 17 Utah Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 69–54 | 31–2 | Pepsi Center (10,559) Denver, Colorado |
| March 26, 2001* | (1 MW) No. 2 | (3 MW) No. 10 Vanderbilt Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 72–64 | 32–2 | Pepsi Center (8,422) Denver, Colorado |
| March 30, 2001* ESPN | (1 MW) No. 2 | vs. (1 E) No. 1 Connecticut National Semifinal – Final Four | W 90–75 | 33–2 | Savvis Center (20,551) St. Louis, Missouri |
| April 1, 2001* ESPN | (1 MW) No. 2 | vs. (1 ME) No. 9 Purdue National Championship | W 68–66 | 34–2 | Savvis Center (20,551) St. Louis, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane Region. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Not released |
| Coaches | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |