No. 2 Irish face No. 1 Baylor Sunday

Published 10:07 am Saturday, November 19, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 2-ranked Notre Dame women’s basketball team will travel to Waco, Texas, to take on top-ranked Baylor in the championship game of the Preseason WNIT Sunday at the Ferrell Center.

Tip-off is set for at 2 p.m.

The pairings were announced following the completion of Thursday’s semifinal action in the tournament, including Notre Dame’s 98-43 win over Hartford at Purcell Pavilion and Baylor’s 83-50 win over No. 22 UCLA in Waco, Texas.

Sunday’s Preseason WNIT championship game will be televised live to a national cable audience on CBS Sports Network (formerly CBS College Sports). It will mark Notre Dame’s second visit to Baylor in as many seasons, with the Lady Bears posting a 76-65 win over the Fighting Irish in December of last year, in the first-ever meeting between the schools on the hardwood.

This year’s matchup also will be the third 1-versus-2 matchup in Notre Dame women’s basketball history, with the Fighting Irish splitting a pair of these contests with Connecticut during the 2000-01 season.

The Fighting Irish lost 78-76 at No. 2 Connecticut on March 6, 2001, in the BIG EAST Championship final and then defeated No. 1 Connecticut, 90-75 on March 30, 2001, in the NCAA national semifinals.

(Women’s Final Four) at the Saavis Center (now Scottrade Center) in St. Louis, Mo.