The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Women's Basketball Wins ACC Tournament

The women‘s basketball team nabbed their 6^th consecutive conference title (their 3^rd since joining the ACC), joining the Irish fencers in owning that honor this year.

Without further ado, we give you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups and look ahead at what's on the schedule this week.

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No. 10 Irish hockey (19-8-7, 15-5-2) was idle this past week. After a first-round bye, the Irish await their Hockey East tournament quarterfinals matches at home vs. Northeastern on Friday, Saturday, and, should a tie-breaking third match be needed, Sunday night. The team finished 3^rd in the conference. Earlier this season, ND earned a 3-2 win and a 2-2 overtime tie vs. Northeastern, which has gone 16-1-2 over its last 19 games. This should be an exciting series.

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No. 1 men's lacrosse (4-0) bested no. 8 Maryland in southern California on Saturday night in a 9-4 Pacific Coast Shootout victory. The defenses dominated until late, with the Irish netting 3 goals in the last minute and 5 in the final period. With about 4 minutes to go, the score was just 5-4 in favor of the Irish before they put the game away. Mikey Wynne led the team with 4 goals and ND led the Terps in shots, 37-28.

Notre Dame next hosts no. 2 Denver on Sunday (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

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No. 4 women's lacrosse (5-1, 1-1) took their first loss of the season against undefeated no. 11 Louisville, 10-9, in double overtime on the road on Saturday. Notre Dame led for much of the back-and-forth game, but Louisville took a 9-8 lead with 3 minutes left; the Irish tied it up to earn overtime, but the extra periods brought the game back to the Cardinals. Kiera McMullan led ND with 3 goals; Cortney Fortunato had 2, plus an assist.

Next up for the Irish is a road trip to face Virginia Tech this Tuesday afternoon in Blacksburg, VA. The team plays Liberty on Wednesday afternoon. Sunday, Notre Dame hosts Princeton (1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

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No. 23 softball (16-3) had another strong weekend, this time at the FGCU Spring Break Classic in Fort Myers, FL, where they swept their opponents to a 4-0 record. Notre Dame bested Stony Brook, 4-3, and Florida Gulf Coast, 6-1, on Saturday, then Stony Brook again, 7-0, and Ball State, 7-1, on Sunday.

The Irish next head to Miami, FL, for a double-header with Florida International on Wednesday. Saturday, they've got a double-header with Virginia; they'll play a series closer with the Cavaliers on Sunday.

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Baseball (6-5) went 2-2 over the weekend in Cary, NC, at the USA Baseball-Irish Classic. ND opened with a Friday loss to Alabama, 4-0, then took a win over Brown, 7-6, and a loss to Bucknell, 6-5, on Saturday, and finally left with a 5-4 win vs. Niagara on Sunday.

The Irish head to Louisville, KY, this Friday to play Louisville (3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3). The teams meet again on Saturday (3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3) and Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

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No. 41 men's tennis (8-6, 2-0) had a strong start to conference play this past week with clear wins over Boston College, 7-0, and Louisville, 5-2. On Friday, they travel to face Clemson. ND is on the road again to Winston-Salem, NC, to play Wake Forest on Sunday.

No. 31 women's tennis (8-5, 3-2) fell to no. 21 Miami, 5-2, on the road this past weekend after falling behind early. They face East Carolina and LIU Brooklyn in Puerto Rico (ooh) on Tuesday.

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Men's golf came in 13^th in a field of 14 at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson last week. Freshman Ben Albin came in an impressive 8^th overall. The team is currently in the midst of the Tiger Invitational in Opelika, AL. We'll bring you the results next week. This coming Saturday, they'll be in Laredo, TX, for the Border Olympics tournament.

The no. 21 women's golf was idle this past week. The Irish now look ahead to the Clover Cup in Mesa, AZ, this weekend.

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Men's basketball (20-10, 11-7) split their last week's games, once again, this time taking a road loss to no. 7 Miami, 68-50, then winning out over NCSU on senior day, 89-75. Our review of the Miami loss is here and of the NCSU win, here.

The Irish will play a team to be determined this week in their ACC Championship quarterfinals match in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon (2:00 p.m. ET, ESPN). If they advance, they'll play in the semi-finals match on Friday evening (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2). The final in on Saturday night (9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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No. 2/3 women's basketball (31-1, 19-0) added a sixth consecutive conference tournament championship (its 3^rd in the ACC) to its regular season ACC championship with a quarterfinals win over Duke, 83-54, a semifinals win over no. 21 Miami, 78-67, and a finals win over no. 17 Syracuse, 68-57, on Sunday. The Irish are currently 57-1 against ACC opponents since joining the conference.

Against Duke on Friday, the Irish were led by freshmen Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale, each with 14 points in the 83-54 win. The Irish had 9 players score by halftime and 5 in double-digits by game's end.

Brianna Turner led the team vs. no. 21 Miami, walking away with 17 points. Notre Dame had 18 points off turnovers. in the 78-67 win. The game was a bit tighter than the Duke match-up; ND was down by 3 in the third quarter before pulling ahead for good.

Against no. 17 Syracuse in the tournament final, MVP Madison Cable and her 18 points and six 3-pointers led the Irish to their 68-57 win. Turner joined Cable with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Notre Dame never trailed in a game that snapped Syracuse's 11-game win streak.

Now the Irish await seeding for the NCAA tournament. The first round of games kicks off on Friday, March 18^th.

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The no. 2 Irish fencing team won its pair of team championships at the ACC Championships the week before last, alongside individual medals in five of six weapon classes. They now await the NCAA Midwest Regional this Saturday in Columbus, OH.

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After coming in 7^th in a field of 12 at the ACC Championships, the men's swimming & diving squad awaits the NCAA Championships in late March. The women's swimming & diving squad similarly awaits the NCAA Championships the weekend of March 17^th after their 7^th-place finish at the ACC Championships.

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After ND track & field came in 3^rd (women) and 7^th (men) in fields of 15 and 14, respectively, at the ACC Indoor Championships the week before last, the teams have been idle. They currently await the NCAA Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday.

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We'll bring you updates again next week on the whole range of Notre Dame sports. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.