Diggins leads No. 2 Notre Dame past UConn in 3OTs - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Skylar Diggins scored 29 points and sparked a decisive run in the third overtime as No. 2 Notre Dame beat third-ranked Connecticut 96-87 Monday night to win Big East regular-season title outright for the second straight year.

The Fighting Irish (28-1, 16-0) went undefeated in the conference for the first time since joining in 1995-96 and became the first team to win six of seven games against Connecticut (27-3, 14-2) in more than two decades.

Two of those victories clinched league titles and two more were in NCAA semifinal games. The only loss was in the finals of the league tournament last season.

Diggins added 11 rebounds. Kayla McBride added 26 points before fouling out.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led UConn with 26 points and Kelly Faris added 21.

Irish top seed for Big East tourney

Notre Dame, Connecticut, Syracuse and Louisville are the top four seeds in the Big East women's tournament which begins Friday.

The four teams don't have to play until the quarterfinals on Sunday, earning double byes. The top-seeded Irish went 16-0 in the conference after beating Connecticut 96-87 in triple overtime on Monday night.

St. John's, Villanova, DePaul, South Florida and Rutgers all earned first-round byes and will play Saturday.

No. 12 Seton Hall will face 13th-seed Cincinnati in the opener of the tournament Friday. Marquette, the 10 seed, will play No. 15 Pittsburgh, which was winless in the conference this season.

Providence and Georgetown will close out first-round action Friday night.

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