Brittany Gilliam

March 21, 2008

Story courtesy of the Associated Press

Notre Dame stumbled heading into the NCAA tournament, but a first-round game in its home state might be just what the team needs to bounce back.

The 15th-ranked and fifth-seeded Fighting Irish kick off their 13th straight NCAA tournament as they face 12th-seeded Southern Methodist on Sunday in the Oklahoma City regional in West Lafayette, Ind.

Notre Dame (23-8) was upset 64-53 by Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament on March 9, six days after closing out the regular season with a 61-51 defeat at St. Johns. The back-to-back losses were just the second of the season for the Irish.

"It's really disappointing for us," coach Muffet McGraw said after the loss to Pitt. "We never really got going."

The Irish, who are making their 15th overall trip to the NCAAs, won't have to go far as they try to end their skid.

Of course, West Lafayette hasn't been Notre Dame's favorite place to play in recent years - their 61-48 win over Purdue on Dec. 8 marked their first there in 10 tries. In addition to eight losses to Purdue, the Irish also lost 78-61 to Boston College in the first round of the 2006 tournament - their only first-round exit their last 12 NCAA Women's tournament appearances.

"At least we won there this year, so that feels good," guard Charel Allen said.

And despite their struggles in West Lafayette, a first round game just down the road from South Bend means that Notre Dame should have plenty of fans rooting it on.

"We won our last game there, so we're one-in-a-row, undefeated this season and that's the way we're going to approach it," McGraw said.

Allen leads the Irish with 14.5 points per game and had a team-high 17 in the loss to Pittsburgh. Notre Dame ranks ninth in the country with 76.5 points per game.

SMU (24-8), meanwhile, is making its seventh NCAA appearance and first since 2000. The Mustangs set a school record for wins and earned their bid with a 73-57 upset win over UTEP in the Conference USA tournament championship.

Brittany Gilliam scored 20 points for SMU, and tournament MVP Janielle Dodds had 10 and 11 rebounds. Dodds leads the team with 15.0 points per game and is SMU's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

"I'm excited. I've never been there," Dodds said. "(Guard) Katy (Cobb) and I have been here four years, and we've never been to an NCAA tournament, so we're really excited to know that we have another game, but it's in the NCAA tournament."

Notre Dame and SMU split their only two previous meetings, with the Irish winning in South Bend in 1982 and the Mustangs winning in Dallas in 1984.

The winner of this game will play the winner of the game between fourth-seeded Oklahoma and No. 13 seed Illinois State on Tuesday.