DAYTON, Ohio — Revenge is regarded as a dish best served cold, but Brittany Mallory missed the memo.
The senior guard buried six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points,
as No. 2-seed Notre Dame rolled by No. 6 Oklahoma 78-53 to advance to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament. The Irish fell to the Sooners in the regional semifinals last season in overtime.
"In the first two rounds, I hadn't hit a 3," Mallory said. "Coming in, I just had to
forget about that and just say I'm going to keep shooting. I knew they would eventually
fall, and Skylar kept finding me."
Freshman guard Skylar Diggins dished out a Notre Dame NCAA tournament record 12
assists, and junior forward Devereux Peters added 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Irish
(28-7) outhustled the Sooners (23-11) on the glass, outrebounding Oklahoma 47 to 24.
"We got absolutely demoralized on the boards," Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. "They were the better team — there's no doubt about it."
Notre Dame faces No. 1-seed Tennessee in the regional final Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Dayton. It is the first time the Irish have advanced the Elite Eight since their championship campaign in 2001.