# 2018–19 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by 32nd year head coach Muffet McGraw, played their home games at Edmund P. Joyce Center as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were also the defending national champions.

## Previous season

The Fighting Irish finished the 2017–18 season at 35–3 , 15–1 in ACC play to finish in a tie for first place. They were runners up in the ACC women's tournament losing to Louisville in the final game. They received an at large bid for the NCAA women's tournament as a number one seed. They won the tournament beating other number one seeds, Connecticut and Mississippi State along the way. This was the team's second national title in its history.

## Offseason
### 2018 recruiting class

Source:
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Katlyn Gilbert PG | Indianapolis, IN | Heritage Christian | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Jordan Nixon PG | New York City, NY | Mary Louis Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Danielle Cosgrove F | Holbrook, NY | Sachem East | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Abby Prohaska G | Liberty Township, OH | Lakota West | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Media

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

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2018* 7:00 pm | No. 1 | Lewis | W 107–65 | – | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,556) South Bend, IN |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2018* 4:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | Harvard | W 103–58 | 1–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| November 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | Penn | W 77–55 | 2–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,854) South Bend, IN |
| November 17, 2018* 2:00 pm | No. 1 | at No. 15 DePaul | W 101–77 | 3–0 | Wintrust Arena (2,833) Chicago, IL |
| November 22, 2018* 3:00 pm | No. 1 | vs. Gonzaga Vancouver Showcase Quarterfinals | W 81–65 | 4–0 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,018) Vancouver, BC |
| November 23, 2018* 9:00 pm | No. 1 | vs. Drake Vancouver Showcase Semifinals | W 82–64 | 5–0 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,156) Vancouver, BC |
| November 24, 2018* 8:00 pm | No. 1 | vs. No. 9 Oregon State Vancouver Showcase Championship | W 91–81 | 6–0 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,866) Vancouver, BC |
| November 29, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 1 | No. 14 Iowa ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 105–71 | 7–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,968) South Bend, IN |
| December 2, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | No. 2 UConn Jimmy V Classic/Rivalry | L 71–89 | 7–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| December 8, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 2 | at Toledo | W 72–56 | 8–1 | Savage Arena (6,059) Toledo, OH |
| December 16, 2018* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 2 | Binghamton | W 103–53 | 9–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,183) South Bend, IN |
| December 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 2 | Western Kentucky | W 94–53 | 10–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,502) South Bend, IN |
| December 22, 2018* 1:30 pm, FS1 | No. 2 | at No. 19 Marquette | W 87–63 | 11–1 | Al McGuire Center (3,700) Milwaukee, WI |
| December 30, 2018* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 2 | Lehigh | W 95–68 | 12–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 3, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 2 | Pittsburgh | W 100–44 | 13–1 (1–0) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,566) South Bend, IN |
| January 6, 2019 3:00 pm, RSN | No. 2 | at Georgia Tech | W 76–55 | 14–1 (2–0) | McCamish Pavilion (3,209) Atlanta, GA |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | No. 2 Louisville | W 82–68 | 15–1 (3–0) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 13, 2019 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | Wake Forest | W 78–48 | 16–1 (4–0) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,392) South Bend, IN |
| January 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | at Virginia Tech | W 80–51 | 17–1 (5–0) | Cassell Coliseum (2,131) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 20, 2019 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | Boston College | W 92–63 | 18–1 (6–0) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,714) South Bend, IN |
| January 24, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | at Tennessee | W 77–62 | 19–1 | Thompson–Boling Arena (9,154) Knoxville, TN |
| January 27, 2019 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 1 | at North Carolina | L 73–78 | 19–2 (6–1) | Carmichael Arena (4,704) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 5 | at Clemson | W 101–63 | 20–2 (7–1) | Littlejohn Coliseum (2,791) Clemson, SC |
| February 3, 2019 12:00 pm, RSN | No. 5 | Georgia Tech | W 90–50 | 21–2 (8–1) | Edmond P. Joyce Center (8,530) South Bend, IN |
| February 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | at No. 25 Miami (FL) | L 65–72 | 21–3 (8–2) | Watsco Center (1,864) Coral Gables, FL |
| February 10, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 4 | No. 24 Florida State | W 97–70 | 22–3 (9–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,950) South Bend, IN |
| February 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 6 | at Boston College | W 97–47 | 23–3 (10–2) | Conte Forum (1,598) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| February 18, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5 | at No. 9 NC State | W 95–72 | 24–3 (11–2) | Reynolds Coliseum (5,500) Raleigh, NC |
| February 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 5 | Duke | W 89–61 | 25–3 (12–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,399) South Bend, IN |
| February 25, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 17 Syracuse | W 98–68 | 26–3 (13–3) | Carrier Dome (7,568) Syracuse, NY |
| March 3, 2019 12:30 pm, RSN | No. 4 | Virginia | W 103–66 | 27–3 (14–3) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2019 2:00 pm, RSN | (1) No. 4 | vs. (8) North Carolina Quarterfinals | W 95–77 | 28–3 | Greensboro Coliseum (4,024) Greensboro, NC |
| March 9, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) No. 4 | vs. (5) No. 18 Syracuse Semifinals | W 91–66 | 29–3 | Greensboro Coliseum (6,943) Greensboro, NC |
| March 10, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) No. 4 | vs. (2) No. 3 Louisville Championship Game | W 99–79 | 30–3 | Greensboro Coliseum (10,104) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 23, 2019* 11:00 am, ESPN2 | (1 C) No. 3 | (16 C) Bethune–Cookman First Round | W 92–50 | 31–3 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,885) South Bend, IN |
| March 25, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (1 C) No. 3 | (8 C) Michigan State Second Round | W 91–63 | 32–3 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (6,694) South Bend, IN |
| March 30, 2019* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 C) No. 3 | vs. (4 C) No. 14 Texas A&M Sweet Sixteen | W 87–80 | 33–3 | Wintrust Arena Chicago, IL |
| April 1, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 C) No. 3 | vs. (2 C) No. 6 Stanford Elite Eight | W 84–68 | 34–3 | Wintrust Arena (5,555) Chicago, IL |
| April 5, 2019* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1 C) No. 3 | vs. (2 A) No. 2 Connecticut Final Four/Rivalry | W 81–76 | 35–3 | Amalie Arena (20,062) Tampa, FL |
| April 7, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN | (1 C) No. 3 | vs. (1 G) No. 1 Baylor National Championship | L 81–82 | 35–4 | Amalie Arena (20,127) Tampa, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. C=Chicago Region. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
The Coaches Poll releases a final poll after the NCAA tournament, but the AP Poll does not release a poll at this time.