Notre Dame women are led by diggins previous Duke, 87-76

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) a Skylar Diggins and Notre Dame are headed back to the Ultimate Four for another rematch with Connecticut. Foul trouble was shaken off early by diggins to score 24 points and Notre Dame rallied to defeat Duke 87-76 on Tuesday night to make its third consecutive day at the Last Four. The Irish have lost in the past two national championship games. "I wish to win a title for instructor (Muffet) McGraw bad," Diggins said. "When you have an instructor who believes in you so much I'd do anything for her." Kayla McBride included 17 details while Jewell Loyd and Natalie Achonwa had 17 each while the Fighting Irish (35-1) won their school-record 30th consecutive game, making a fourth meeting with UConn. It is the next right meeting between your two Big East opponents in the Ultimate Four. The Irish won both those and have dominated the series recently winning eight of yesteryear nine meetings. Notre Dame swept UConn all three conferences with UConn this season in interesting style earning in overtime and by 2 and 1 points. The Irish had to rally previous Duke to obtain there. Walking by six at the half, control was taken by Notre Dame with a 15-2 function early in the 2nd half to take a 50-42 guide. The Blue Devils lost in the regional finals for the fourth straight year, failing once again to return to the Final Four for initially since 2006. Diggins, hampered by foul difficulty in the first half, began the run with her fourth 3-pointer of the game and followed rapidly with a no-look supply to Natalie Achonwa, who also got 13 rebounds, for a layup that had received an impressed roar from the crowd at Old Dominion's Constant Center. Diggins included a grab and a, and the burst was finished by McBride with still another 3-pointer. The Fighting Irish extended their cause 60-49 with 9:57 to perform, and Duke trailed by up to 16 before closing the gap only slightly in the desperate final minutes. The Blue Devils hurt their cause with 21 turnovers. "I think these were outworking us," explained Diggins, who earned AP All-America honors for the second straight year previously Tuesday. "I haven't seen that from my team. These were getting hustle scrap details. I possibly could not wait to obtain in that locker room. We'd to light a fire. We got some stops and played our game." and set the tone on security In Duke (33-3) could have expected the very first half, the overall game developed better. Diggins was whistled for 2 fouls in the first 4:10 and visited the table, and after McBride struck some of jumpers, the Fighting Irish seemed out of sorts. They extended their cause 17-13 on a by Kaila Turner and two free throws by Ariel Braker, then went more than eight minutes with out a place. A totally free throw by Elizabeth Williams for Duke ignited a 13-0 run that got more than six of the minutes. Tricia Liston obtained eight in the rush and it was finished by Chloe Wells with a 12-foot jumper. Diggins came back with about 8 minutes to get in the half and while playing passively on safety to avoid a third foul, struck three 3-pointers in an amount of 2:16, cutting a deficit to 32-31 with 1:07 left. A holder by Williams and Wells' 3 prior to the half gave Duke a 37-31 advantage. The week-end was a for Williams, a Virginia Beach native, but Duke's score leader missed several shots from in close. She finished 3 for 9 and scored 8 points, approximately half her average. Liston light emitting diode Duke with 19 points while Peters added 15. --- Follow Hank on twitter at: http://twitter.com/hankkurzjr