Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI T he numbers remain staggering during Notre Dame's 23-1 (11-0 ACC) start this season, yet have almost become taken for granted. Heading into their Valentine's Day con- test with No. 25 Miami: • In the past three years, the Fighting Irish are 96-1 against teams not named Connecticut, the women's basketball version of John Wooden's 1964-75 dynasty at UCLA. Notre Dame is 0-4 against the Huskies in that same time, although on three of those occasions the Irish were without their top post player (Natalie Achonwa or Brianna Turner). • Head coach Muffet McGraw's pro- gram is 49-1 against its Atlantic Coast Conference foes, which has included past and present powers such as North Carolina, Maryland and Duke, and cur- rent rising heavyweights Louisville and Florida State, plus Miami. • Notre Dame has won an ungodly 26 consecutive games decided by less than double digits and/or in overtime, most recently challenging road encoun- ters at Duke Feb. 1 (68-61) and at Louis- ville Feb. 7 (66-61). Sometimes these records and wins get overlooked with the "there's less parity in women's basketball" argu- ment. While that is not necessarily an inaccurate statement, Notre Dame also has evolved from a "nice, solid top-15 to top-25 program" for most of 2002-10 into a juggernaut surpassed only by UConn for six years running now. It has the target on its back every game, yet repeatedly finds ways to emerge victorious as it attempts to reach a sixth consecutive Final Four. Duke won four straight ACC titles and went to four straight Elite Eights from 2009-13 — but has lost 10 in a row to Notre Dame. Louisville advanced to the NCAA championship game in 2009 and 2013, and the Elite Eight last year — and has lost nine straight to the Irish. Tennessee was once one and the same with UConn, and the Vols had been 20-0 versus Notre Dame — but McGraw's crew now has vanquished them six straight times by a double- digit margin, including 79-66 Jan. 18. UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE The balanced, poised and confident Irish keep finding ways to thrive