In the Midwest and East regionals , both number one seeds advanced to the Final Four . Both Notre Dame and Connecticut were from the Big East and met in the other semifinal . The two teams had met twice before in the season , with Notre Dame winning at their home and UConn beating Notre Dame in the Big East Championship . Early in the game , the prior year National Champion Connecticut looked to be on their way to another championship game . The Huskies led at one point by 16 points in the first half . In the second half , Notre Dame came back , and with just over twelve minutes left , took their first lead of the game . Connecticut went into a scoring drought , going more than five minutes without a point . Notre Dame went on to win 90 – 75 , to head to their first national championship game
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2001 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament