NCAA Women’s Tournament OKLAHOMA CITY REGION FINAL

Baylor has revenge on its mind today

Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw huddles with the team against Stanford during the second half of a women's college basketball regional semifinal game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 27, 2015, in Oklahoma City.
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw huddles with the team against Stanford during the second half of a women's college basketball regional semifinal game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 27, 2015, in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Baylor point guard Niya Johnson has had a year to think about a season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.

She hasn't forgotten the frustration of that Elite Eight loss to the Fighting Irish.

Johnson and the No. 2-seeded Lady Bears (33-3) will have their chance to make amends for last season's disappointment when they face the top-seeded Irish (34-2) again in the Elite Eight tonight -- this time in the neutral setting of Oklahoma City rather than in South Bend.

"We still talk about that to this day," Johnson said. "We're just hoping to go out there and attack because we don't remember the wins, just the losses."

Last year Notre Dame -- fueled by a raucous crowd of 8,774 -- reached its fourth consecutive Final Four with a convincing 88-69 victory over Baylor.

Several of the key players, namely Baylor's Odyssey Sims and Notre Dame's Natalie Achonwa, have moved on to the WNBA.

That didn't stop these traditional powers from eyeing a possible rematch, with Lady Bears' standout Nina Davis admitting "that was probably the first thing that popped in our minds" when the bracket was revealed.

Led by Davis, the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, Baylor enters today confident it has improved and become more balanced. Notre Dame is supremely confident, riding a 20-game winning streak following an 81-60 victory over Stanford on Friday.

Last season, Davis was a key player as a freshman for Baylor, averaging 15 points. The 5-11 forward has been the leader this year while averaging 20.9 points. She is eager to improve on a seven-point effort in last year's loss to Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish had their hopes of an undefeated season dashed in the championship game against Connecticut last year. This season, they've been led by preseason All-America guard Jewell Loyd, who is averaging 20.1 points.

Baylor had no answer for Loyd last season, with the then-sophomore scoring 30 points on 12-of-27 shooting. Lady Bears Coach Kim Mulkey knows slowing the 5-10 guard is key today, but she is also an admirer of her play.

"Nobody really slows her down; she's that good," Mulkey said. "She's probably going to win every player of the year award out there."

Irish point guard Lindsay Allen had a career-high 28 points, including 24 in the first half, in Friday's victory over Stanford. The sophomore leads Notre Dame with 5.2 assists a game, and she'll face a difficult matchup today against Johnson, who leads the country with 8.9 assists a game. Johnson had 16 assists and no turnovers against Iowa, a performance that even Allen admitted she was "a little jealous of."

The schools enter today with a combined nine Final Four appearances and three national championships between them. Baylor's last title came in 2012, while Notre Dame -- with four consecutive Final Fours -- hasn't won a championship since 2001. The Irish have mostly met UConn in the finals.

Notre Dame's last loss this season was at Miami on Jan. 8. The Fighting Irish's only other loss was a 76-58 defeat in a rematch from last season's national championship game against UConn.

"I think we're a very different team than we were last year, and you see that in the lack of experience at times," Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw said. "But a player like Jewell really can do a lot of things to cover up a lot of mistakes that we're making."

Sports on 03/29/2015

Upcoming Events