Indianapolis - When Muffet McGraw first met Geno Auriemma in the late 1970s, she was the girls' basketball coach at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor, Pa., and Auriemma the assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, McGraw's alma mater.

"I thought he was a funny guy," McGraw said of Auriemma. "I liked him. Geno is going to tell it like it is. He's a Philly guy. We appreciate that in Philly. … We go back a long way and share a lot of memories with the same people."

The same could be said about the relationship this season between the UConn women's basketball team, coached by Auriemma, and McGraw's Notre Dame team, which have played three times already and are going for four.

The Huskies and the Fighting Irish share a lot of memories with the same people, namely the other members of the Big East Conference.

Today, the teams will meet once again in the national semifinals at Conseco Fieldhouse with UConn (36-1) trying to win its third straight national championship and Notre Dame (30-7) trying to avenge three losses to the Huskies this season.

UConn beat the Irish on Jan. 8 at Notre Dame, 79-76, needing a second-half comeback; Feb. 19 at Gampel Pavilion, 78-57; and March 8 in the Big East tournament championship in Hartford, 73-64.

There are a lot of storylines, from Notre Dame playing the Final Four in its home state to the 10th anniversary of the last time the teams played in the national semifinals in St. Louis - a win for the Irish on the way to their only national championship in 2001- to UConn's quest for a three-peat.

It's also the last Final Four for UConn All-American Maya Moore. She and classmate Lorin Dixon are 150-3 in their careers with two national championships and four Final Fours.

Neither team seems concerned with any of those things, though.

"It's a completely new game," UConn freshman Stefanie Dolson said. "Both teams are going to come out fighting. There's not anything that's going to be a surprise. It's going to be a game of just fighting."

"I'm looking forward to playing Connecticut one more time," Notre Dame freshman Natalie Achonwa said. "They're really known and they're a big brand name in college basketball. I'm looking forward to having that fourth chance at them. We've worked really hard this whole season to get where we are."

McGraw, meanwhile, is worried mainly about her team's shooting percentage against the Huskies, a combined .393 in the three games. The Irish, by contrast, are shooting .479 on the season and averaging 77.4 points per game.

McGraw said UConn doesn't get nearly enough credit for its defense.

"We have a great defender on our team, Kelly Faris," Auriemma said. "Tomorrow, if she could guard Skylar Diggins and Natalie Novosel every possession, I would tell you we're going to kill them. But something's going to give."

Auriemma said that while traditionally a team's offense usually gets better from a defense, the reverse is also true.

"When we're putting points on the board almost every possession or every other possession, the pressure on the other team to have to score gets greater and greater and greater," he said. "That makes that same 17-footer a lot tougher to make when you know you have to make it."

The Huskies are playing in the final weekend of a season in which they broke the NCAA record for consecutive Division I basketball victories (90) before losing to Stanford on Dec. 30. They also played with nine healthy players, eight at times, putting extra pressure on their starters.

"It means a lot," Dixon said of reaching the Final Four again. "For me and Maya to have been here for four years is pretty remarkable, pretty incredible. It's something we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Final Four

At Conseco Fieldhouse,IndianapolisNational SemifinalsToday's GamesStanford (33-2) vs. Texas A&M (31-5), 7 p.m. (ESPN)UConn (36-1) vs. Notre Dame (30-7), 30 minutes after first game (ESPN)

National ChampionshipTuesday's GameSemifinal winners, TBA (ESPN)

UCONN VS. NOTRE DAMELocation: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis.

Tip-off: Approximately 9:30 p.m. (ESPN).

Records: Notre Dame 30-7, UConn 36-1.

Probable starters: Notre Dame, 6-2 Sr. F Devereaux Peters (11.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg), 6-1 Sr. F Becca Bruszewski (9.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg), 5-9 So. G Skylar Diggins (14.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.8 apg), 5-11 Jr. G Natalie Novosel (14.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg), 5-10 Sr. G Brittany Mallory (7.1 ppg).UConn, 5-7 Fr. G Bria Hartley (12.5 ppg, 2.9 apg), 5-11 So. G Kelly Faris (7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.7 apg), 5-10 Jr. G Tiffany Hayes (13.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg), 6-0 Sr. F Maya Moore (22.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 4.0 apg), 6-5 Fr. C Stefanie Dolson (10.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg).

Noteworthy: Ten years later, UConn and Notre Dame meet again in the national semifinals. Last time, 2001, Notre Dame won 90-75 in St. Louis on the way to its first national championship. And UConn topped Notre Dame in the Big East championship game that year, too, a game which prompted a recent book: "Bird at the Buzzer." "Muffet (McGraw, Notre Dame coach) mentioned something about that," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Saturday. This season, UConn has three wins over Notre Dame, two during the regular season and one in the Big East championship game at the XL Center in Hartford. This time, Notre Dame is playing in its home state. "It's great to be in Indiana. I don't perceive it as a home-court advantage, exactly. But it definitely is easier for our fans to get here. Just playing in the state of Indiana, I think it was kind of a motivating factor for some of the girls throughout the season," McGraw said. … UConn's Moore, with 3,000 points, is now seventh place all-time among Division I scorers but just 25 points out of fourth place. She is close behind Cindy Blodgett of Maine (3,005), Cheryl Miller of USC (3,018) and Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee (3,025). … UConn is 7-4 all-time in national semifinals. … Notre Dame reached the Final Four, its third, despite losing four starters from last year's team which made the Sweet 16. … Notre Dame assistant coach Niele Ivey was a member of the Irish's 2001 national championship team.

- Vickie Fulkerson