Spring Break
Notre Dame's dream season seemed to hang in the balance for much of the team's NCAA Tournament second-round game against Michigan State Sunday. But Rose Augustin ended the suspense with just under 18 minutes left in the contest. The sophomore midfielder beat Michigan State goalie Jill Fliestra and deposited a low shot in the right corner of the net in the 73rd minute of play, giving the Irish a 1-0 win.
No. 9 Notre Dame won its first ever sudden death shootout Friday night and finished a sweep of Lake Superior State with a 5-2 win the next day to extend its winning streak to six games. "Since we lost to Miami a few weeks ago, we really wanted to bounce back and get some points in the league here.
Ashley Barlow scored 19 points, Lindsay Schrader scored 13 and No. 16 Notre Dame beat No. 24 LSU 62-53 in Baton Rouge, La. Sunday. Barlow, a junior guard, hit two 3-pointers and two free throws in the first four minutes of the second half to give Notre Dame a 36-28 lead.
No. 9 Notre Dame bookended halftime with two big runs and used those spurts to secure a 94-58 victory over USC Upstate Sunday. The Irish went on a 10-2 run to end the first half then came out of the locker room with seven unanswered points on the way to the blowout win.
If No. 9 Notre Dame wants to advance to the program's first ever Final Four, it's going to have to do it the hard way. Two second-half goals propelled No. 8 South Florida to a 2-1 win over the Irish in the Big East tournament semifinals played this weekend, at the Bulls' home field in Tampa.
Notre Dame swept a tri-meet against Cleveland State and Miami (Ohio) Saturday at Cleveland State's Busbey Natatorium. The Irish beat the Vikings 132-109 and raced past the Redhawks 143-100. In total, the Irish won five of 13 events on the day. Irish junior John Lyttle was one of two Irish swimmers to win a pair of races.
The Irish ran well enough Saturday to run one more race. Both the men's and women's teams earned at-large bids to the NCAA Championships with fourth-place finishes at the Great Lakes Regional at Purdue University. "We're very happy to have made the championships, no doubt about it," men's head coach Joe Piane said.
Two days after a close five-set loss to Big East leader St. John's, the Irish pulled off a nail-biting win of their own, downing Connecticut 3-2. Friday night against the Red Storm (21-8, 12-2 Big East), the Irish (14-13, 9-5) received a balanced offensive effort in the 25-17, 18-25, 16-25, 25-19, 16-14 defeat, with four players tallying more than 10 kills.