Notre Dame women earn Final Four berth

SOUTH BEND – It was a breath-taking night for the Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team, as the Irish earned a fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four by polishing off nemesis Baylor, 88-69, on Monday in the regional championship game at Notre Dame.

It was also a night for the Irish to hold their breath, awaiting the outcome of an MRI after Irish senior post Natalie Achonwa suffered a knee injury with 4:51 left and Notre Dame leading 75-64. The 6-foot-3 post had 19 points and 15 rebounds, collecting her eighth double-double of the season by halftime (11 points, 11 rebounds).

“The way we’re going right now, this team is ready to rise,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said of dealing with the possibility of Achonwa not playing in the Final Four. “You saw (Achonwa’s) emotion when she got up to leave the floor … she is still going to be leading this team.”

Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd led Notre Dame with 30 points. Baylor All-American Odyssey Sims scored 33 points in the final game of her collegiate career.

Notre Dame (36-0) advances to the Final Four at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The Irish will play in a national semifinal game on Sunday against the winner of Tuesday’s regional title game between No. 4 seed Maryland (27-6) and No. 3 seed Louisville (33-4). The winner of the game between No. 1 seed Connecticut (37-0) and No. 3 seed Texas A&M (27-8) will play the winner of No. 2 seed Stanford (32-3) and No. 4 seed North Carolina (27-9) in the other national semifinal game.

Baylor, losing to Notre Dame for the first time in five meetings, ends the season with a 32-5 record.

Notre Dame joined an elite club by earning a trip to its fourth consecutive Final Four. Only Stanford, Tennessee, Connecticut, LSU and Louisiana Tech and now Notre Dame have reached the Final Four in four straight seasons.

“I don’t think anyone expected that we’d be back in the Final Four,” McGraw said. “I think it says a lot about this team, the mental toughness and the grit that they got together and had this unbelievable season.”

Loyd’s total was one point shy of her career high, set on Jan. 27 at Maryland. The 5-10 sophomore guard ignited a 14-0 first-half run that gave the Irish the upper hand, 31-21, sprinting past the Baylor defense with a lightning-quick transition game, soaring over taller Baylor players for putbacks, or pulling the trigger on lethal pull-up jumpers.

“That’s Jewell’s moment … she seizes the moment,” McGraw said of Loyd taking over games at critical times. “She has the ability and the confidence to do it, and we encourage her to keep doing it.”

Notre Dame couldn’t put the brakes on Sims, a 5-8 guard who is second in the nation in scoring with 28.4 points. But the Irish made sure none of the other Bears silenced a raucous Irish home crowd. No other Baylor player scored in double figures, and the Irish defense held the Bears, third in the nation with a scoring average of 84.0 points a game, to less than 70 points for only the fourth time this season.

“I’ve said it numerous times, Odyssey Sims is WNBA ready,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “If I had the first pick in the draft, I’d take her, because she can score, she can defend, she can play the point, she can play the off-guard.”

Baylor opened up the second half with a 12-4 run and closed to 48-44 on a 3 by Makenzie Robertson, Mulkey’s daughter. Loyd answered with a 3 to push the Irish lead back up to 51-44. Achonwa picked up her third foul in the midst of the run and went to the bench with 16:58 left.

Mulkey erupted after a second consecutive call went against Baylor, including a charge on Sims. The Baylor coach was called for a technical foul with 13:30 left in the game, and Kayla McBride cashed in with two free throws for a 55-46 lead.

A steal by Sims and a layup by Nina Davis allowed Baylor to close to 65-60 with 7:34 left in the game.

Notre Dame then slugged Baylor with a 10-0 run that included six free throws, giving the Irish breathing room at 75-62. The Baylor fouls included an intentional foul on Odyssey after Lindsay Allen stole the ball from Sims and was on a fastbreak.

Notre Dame led 44-32 at halftime, but the Irish got off to a rough start.

Loyd and Achonwa picked the Irish up, combining for 32 points, to match Baylor’s first-half total.

Loyd finished the first half with 21 points.

McBride picked up her second foul at the 16:08 mark of the first half and headed for the bench with the Irish owning an 8-6 lead. Baylor took advantage of McBride’s absence to grab a 21-17 lead.

That’s when Loyd took over, and put the Irish on track for their fourth consecutive Final Four, and sixth overall.

BAYLOR (32-5): Odyssey Sims 12-26 6-6 33, Niya Johnson 1-6 2-2 4, Nina Davis 3-12 1-2 7, Makenzie Robertson 2-5 0-0 6, Sune Agbuke 2-9 5-5 9, Chardonae Fuqua’ 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah Chandler 0-0 0-0 0, Imani Wright 1-3 0-0 3, Ieshia Small 1-2 0-0 2, Kristina Higgins 0-0 0-0 0, Khadijiah Cave 2-8 1-3 5. Totals 24-71 15-18 69.

NOTRE DAME (36-0): Natalie Achonwa 6-9 7-8 19, Lindsay Allen 1-5 6-6 8, Kayla McBride 2-9 7-8 11, Jewell Loyd 12-27 4-5 30, Ariel Braker 4-4 2-2 10, Whitney Holloway 0-0 0-0 0, Kristina Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Taya Reimer 2-7 0-0 4, Madison Cable 0-1 2-2 2, Michaela Mabrey 1-4 2-2 4, Hannah Huffman 0-0 0-0 0, Markisha Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 30-33 88.

Halftime — Notre Dame 44-32. 3-Point Goals — Baylor 6-17 (Sims 3-8, Robertson 2-5, Wright 1-3, Small 0-1), Notre Dame 2-11 (Loyd 2-6, McBride 0-1, Allen 0-2, Mabrey 0-2). Fouled Out — Davis. Rebounds — Baylor 44 (Agbuke 12), Notre Dame 46 (Achonwa 15). Assists — Baylor 13 (Sims 6), Notre Dame 13 (McBride 5). Total Fouls — Baylor 27, Notre Dame 19. Technical — Baylor Bench. A — 8,774.