Notre Dame women's basketball: ND site for women’s regional

Notre Dame has been selected as one of four host sites for regional-round games in the 2014 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Games will be played at the 9,149-seat Purcell Pavilion either March 29 and 31, or March 30 and April 1.

It will mark the second time in program history that ND has been chosen to host a regional, the previous time coming in 1983. Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 in the final NCAA attendance standings nine times in the past 13 seasons.

“I think we’ve done a good job in the past when we hosted first- and second-round games,” said Irish coach Muffet McGraw. “I think our crowd had everything to do with us being awarded a regional. We’ve always had great attendance and a great atmosphere for the tournament games here.”

The other three regional sites will be Lincoln, Neb., Louisville, Ky., and Palo Alto, Calif. The Final Four will take place April 6 and 8 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Notre Dame will be hosting NCAA action for the ninth time, and the fourth time in six seasons, the most recent coming in 2012.

The Irish return four starters and nine letter-winners from last season’s 35-2 team that advanced to the Final Four.