Women's NCAA Tournament 2012: Notre Dame Will Earn Trip to Final Four

Notre Dame won its last NCAA tournament game 79-35.

No, that doesn't make it a certainty that the Fighting Irish will advance all the way to the Final Four, but it is certainly a good sign.

Only Maryland stands in the way of Notre Dame's second consecutive Final Four, but given their dominant performance against St. Bonaventure on Sunday, it seems like the Fighting Irish will steamroll anything that stands in their way.

Thirty-five points is the fewest scored by any team in the NCAA women's tournament regionals, and Notre Dame's 44-point margin of victory matches the regional record. The Bonnies were held to 0.188-percent shooting—0.083 from beyond the arc—and they committed 21 turnovers.

The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, shot 32-of-61 (.525) from the field and .500 percent from three-point range.

Now, the best of the Big East will face second-seeded Maryland on Tuesday night. Maryland took down Texas A&M (the team that beat the Irish in last year's title game) 81-74 in the regionals, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the second half to do so.

The Irish will rely on Skylar Diggins and Natalie Novosel to take down the Terps' two powerhouse players, ACC Player of the Year Alyssa Thomas and Laurin Mincy. Against the Bonnies, Diggins and Novosel recorded 24 points, two blocks, four steals, five assists and nine rebounds.

The Terps, meanwhile, outrebounded the Aggies 52-35 and finished the game on a 21-4 run.

Irish head coach Muffet McGraw admitted her team doesn't match up well against the Terps' defensive prowess, telling the Associated Press, "They're a strong, strong rebounding team. They have great size. We're a team that plays four guards. We don't match up well. They're much more physical and so much bigger inside than we are."

But it's hard to believe anything can stop a Notre Dame offense that has won each of its tournament games by double figures. The Irish just need to continue doing what they do best: Don't let the Terps get inside, force turnovers and shoot. Hitting 50 percent from three-point land again wouldn't hurt, either.

Usually, it's defense that wins championships, but Maryland's defense hasn't met this Irish offense yet.