Women's national championship preview: Notre Dame vs. Mississippi State
Notre Dame and Mississippi State battle Sunday for the women's college basketball national championship.
April 1, 2018 at 3:30AM
• Records: Notre Dame 34-3, Mississippi State 37-1
• This will be the first time these teams have played each other. Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer, however, is no stranger to Muffet McGraw and the Irish. He was an assistant coach on the Texas A&M team that beat Notre Dame to win the 2011 national championship.
• Mississippi State is the seventh program to play in back-to-back NCAA title games.
• Notre Dame is 1-4 in national championship games.
• Mississippi State started the semifinal game against Louisville 0-for-10, then made 25 of its final 52 shots.
• The Irish need 86 points to break the all-time record for most points in an NCAA tournament. The record of 547 was set by UConn in 2000.
• Jackie Young's 32 points Friday night were the most by a Notre Dame player in a Final Four game. The sophomore shot 10-for-15 from the floor and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. She also had 11 rebounds.
• Notre Dame used only six players against UConn, and the starters played a combined 214 minutes.
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Nittany Lions converted on three fourth downs while protecting one-point lead to keep Gophers from getting ball back.
