The Irish and the Lady Vols have met every season since 2011 and 29 times since 1983.
Their last meeting was in Knoxville on Jan. 24, 2019, and the Irish left with a 77-62 victory. Arike Ogunbowale scored 28 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Jackie Young totaled a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the win for Notre Dame. Tennessee was led by Zaay Green’s 19 points.
Notre Dame has won eight of its last nine games against Tennessee, but the Lady Vols won the first 20 games in the rivalry from 1983 through 2008. They have met in the NCAA tournament four times. Tennessee still leads the all-time series 21-8.
Notre Dame: Katlyn Gilbert, Sophomore, Guard
Gilbert has stepped up in the first two games of the season for Notre Dame, scoring in double-digits in wins over Fordham and Loyola Maryland. In all, she’s totaled 38 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists so far in 63 minutes played.
A former McDonald’s All-American from Indianapolis, Indiana, Gilbert was playing regularly off the bench as a freshman last season for Notre Dame — and featured often in the Irish’s early season wins over Gonzaga and Drake — but she separated her shoulder against Iowa on Nov. 29, 2018, and missed the rest of the year after having surgery to repair it.
In losing all five starters from last season’s Final Four team, McGraw has relied on Gilbert early and often.