Notebook Star Players Back In 2012-13 Sugar Rodgers
Three of the top four scorers in the conference, as well as the league’s top rebounder are rising seniors. DePaul will welcome back Anna Martin (conference-best 19.1 ppg) and Katherine Harry (conferencebest 9.5 rpg), along with Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers (18.5 ppg) and Skylar Diggins (16.8 ppg). All four players were All-BIG EAST selections, with Diggins, Rodgers and Martin being selected unanimously.
How Sweet It Is With three NCAA Sweet 16 teams last season (Connecticut, Notre Dame and St. John’s) the BIG EAST has had more teams reach the Regional Semifinals than any other conference since 2007. The league also has had eight different teams advance to the Sweet 16 since 2007, including first-time entrant St. John’s. BIG EAST 21
Big 12 17
SEC 16
ACC 15
BIG EAST Teams in the Sweet 16 The last five years (2007-12) UConn 2007-12 DePaul 2011 Georgetown 2011 Louisville 2008, 2009, 2011 Notre Dame 2008, 2010-12 Pittsburgh 2008, 2009 Rutgers 2007-09 St. John’s 2012
BIG EAST in the Title Game
Pair of No. 1’s
The 2012 season marked the sixth straight year a BIG EAST school has advanced to the Final Four and the third time in the last four years the BIG EAST had two representatives (UConn and Louisville met in 2009).
The 2012 tournament marks the second time in league history that a pair of No. 1 seeds came from the BIG EAST. The last time that happened was 2001, when Notre Dame and Connecticut were both No. 1 seeds. The two met in the national semifinal in Saint Louis, Mo., and the Irish won, eventually winning the title. In 2012, Connecticut, which earned the league’s automatic berth as the BIG EAST Championship winner, was the No. 1 in the Kingston Region. Notre Dame, which earned an at-large bid, was No. 1 in the Raleigh Region. Both teams won their region.
19 NCAA Wins in 2011 The league totaled 19 wins during the 2011 NCAA tournament and tied the highest mark a conference has had during one tournament along with the ACC (2006) and the SEC (1996 and 1997).
Winning Percentage In all postseason games prior to March 19, BIG EAST teams held a .929 winning percentage, posting a 13-1 record. In the NCAA Championship First Round, BIG EAST teams went 7-1. Through WNIT games played before March 19, BIG EAST teams recorded a spotless 6-0 mark.
Diggins, Hayes Top Wooden Award Finalists Two of the 15 Finalists for the John R. Wooden Award hold BIG EAST ties as Notre Dame junior Skylar Diggins and Connecticut senior Tiffany Hayes were named to the ballot.
Beating The Competition For the seventh straight year, the BIG EAST complied a nonconference win percentage over .700 during the regular-season going 159-55 (.743).
Final Four Variety The BIG EAST has seen four different teams advance to the Final Four since 2007, more than any other conference. Rutgers (2007), Connecticut (2008-12), Louisville (2009) and Notre Dame (2011-12). By comparison, The Big 12 has sent three programs (Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas A&M), the SEC has sent two (Tennessee and LSU), while the Pac12 (Stanford) and ACC (North Carolina) have each sent one.
McGraw Selected as Naismith Finalist
Another Top-25 Matchup
For the fifth time, Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw was selected as a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award. McGraw was chosen as a finalist for the Naismith Award in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005, and she won in 2001 when the Fighting Irish won their first NCAA national championship.
Connecticut and Notre Dame’s NCAA contest marked the 24th top-25 matchup of the 2011-12 season. With 26 the year before, the BIG EAST has 50 meetings in the last two seasons.
Notre Dame Raises Over $200,000 The Fighting Irish held their annual Pink Zone game on Feb. 12 (known nationally by its new label, Play4Kay), to raise money for breast cancer research, collecting a school-record $204,682 this season (divided between the local Foundation of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and the national Kay Yow Cancer Fund charity).
30 Wins and Counting The league had a pair of 30-wins teams last year as Notre Dame (35) and Connecticut (33) marked the fifth time the feat has been achieved in conference history. 1995-96: UConn (33-1) and Notre Dame (31-7) 2000-01: UConn (32-3) and Notre Dame (34-2) 2008-09: UConn (39-0) and Louisville (34-5) 2010-11: UConn (35-1) and Notre Dame (31-8) 2011-12: UConn (33-5) and Notre Dame (35-4)
2012-13 MEDIA GUIDE
Diggins Wins the Nancy Lieberman Award Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
Notre Dame junior guard Skylar Diggins was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top NCAA Division I point guard by the Rotary Club of Detroit. Diggins is the first Notre Dame player chosen for the honor that debuted in 2000. Diggins was presented with the Nancy Lieberman Award at a luncheon on April 18 at The Detroit Athletic Club.
UConn’s Bria Hartley joined Diggins, Angel Goodrich of Kansas, Duke’s Chelsea Gray, Nebraska’s Lindsey Moore, Samantha Prahalis of Ohio State, Baylor’s Odyssey Sims and Haley Steed of Brigham Young as finalists.
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