2011–12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

2011–12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
2011–12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
Big East regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Runner-Up
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 4
Record	35–4 (15–1 Big East)
Head coach	Muffet McGraw (25th season);
Assistant coaches	Carol Owens; Beth Cunningham; Niele Ivey;
Home arena	Edmund P. Joyce Center
	Seasons ← 2010–11 2012–13 →

2011–12 Big East Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Notre Dame	15	–	1	.938	35	–	4	.897
No. 3 Connecticut†	13	–	3	.813	33	–	5	.868
No. 14 St. John's	13	–	3	.813	24	–	10	.706
No. T17 Georgetown	11	–	5	.688	23	–	9	.719
West Virginia	11	–	5	.688	24	–	10	.706
No. 19 Louisville	10	–	6	.625	23	–	10	.697
Rutgers	10	–	6	.625	22	–	10	.688
DePaul	9	–	7	.563	23	–	11	.676
South Florida	8	–	8	.500	19	–	16	.543
Syracuse	6	–	10	.375	22	–	15	.595
Villanova	6	–	10	.375	19	–	15	.559
Cincinnati	6	–	10	.375	16	–	16	.500
Providence	5	–	11	.313	13	–	17	.433
Marquette	4	–	12	.250	14	–	17	.452
Seton Hall	1	–	15	.063	8	–	23	.258
Pittsburgh	0	–	16	.000	8	–	22	.267


† 2012 Big East Basketball Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll^[1]

The 2011–12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team represented University of Notre Dame during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by twenty-fifth year head coach Muffet McGraw, played their home games at the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center and were 1st year members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season with 35–4 overall, 15–1 in Big East play to win the Big East regular season title. They earned an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament where they defeated Liberty in the first round, California in the second round, St. Bonaventure in the Sweet Sixteen, and Maryland in the Elite Eight to make it to their fourth Final Four, where they defeated UConn. In the championship game they lost to Baylor, 80–61. The Lady Bears became the first team to finish a season 40–0.

Roster[edit]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	4	Skylar Diggins	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	Washington	South Bend, IN
F	11	Natalie Achonwa	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	St. Mary's Catholic	Guelph, ON
F	44	Ariel Braker	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Grosse Pointe North	Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
G	22	Madison Cable	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Mt. Lebanon	Mt. Lebanon, PA
G	3	Whitney Holloway	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	Fr	Montini Catholic	Plainfield, IL
G	21	Kayla McBride	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Villa Maria Academy	Erie, PA
F	34	Markisha Wright	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Des Moines East	Des Moines, IA

Head coach

Muffet McGraw

Assistant coach(es)

Carol Owens
Beth Cunningham
Niele Ivey

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 11, 2011*	No. 2	Akron	W 81–61	1–0
Nov 13, 2011*	No. 2	Indiana State	W 99–34	2–0
Nov 17, 2011*	No. 2	Hartford	W 98–43	3–0
Nov 20, 2011* CBS Sports	No. 2	at No. 1 Baylor	L 81–94	3–1	Ferrell Center (9,477) Waco, Texas
Regular season
Feb 27, 2012	No. 3	at No. 4 Connecticut	W 72–59	28–2 (15–1)	XL Center Hartford, Connecticut
Big East tournament
Mar 4, 2012*	No. 4	vs. DePaul Quarterfinals	W 69–54	29–2	XL Center Hartford, Connecticut
Mar 5, 2012*	No. 4	vs. West Virginia Semifinals	W 73–45	30–2	XL Center Hartford, Connecticut
Mar 6, 2012*	No. 4	at No. 3 Connecticut Championship game	L 54–63	30–3	XL Center Hartford, Connecticut
NCAA tournament
Mar 18, 2012*	No. 4	Liberty First round	W 74–43	31–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 20, 2012*	No. 4	California Second round	W 73–62	32–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 25, 2012*	No. 4	vs. No. 21 St. Bonaventure Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 79–35	33–3	RBC Center Raleigh, North Carolina
Mar 27, 2012*	No. 4	vs. No. 5 Maryland Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 80–49	34–3	RBC Center Raleigh, North Carolina
Apr 1, 2012*	No. 4	vs. No. 3 Connecticut National semifinal – Final Four	W 83–75 ^OT	35–3	The Pepsi Center Denver, Colorado
Apr 3, 2012*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Baylor National Championship	L 61–80	35–4	The Pepsi Center Denver, Colorado
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[2]

Rankings[edit]

References[edit]

^ "NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Standings - 2011-12". ESPN. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
^ "2011-12 Women's Basketball Schedule". Notre Dame Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[Standings-1] "NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Standings - 2011-12". ESPN. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

[2] "2011-12 Women's Basketball Schedule". Notre Dame Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[1]

[2]

v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
Venues	Joyce Center (1977–present)
Rivalries	UConn
Culture & lore	Notre Dame Leprechaun Bird at the Buzzer
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Roster[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Rankings[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]