Diggins rose to national prominence in her sophomore year, finishing the regular season first on the team in assists per game (4.8 average), while placing second in scoring (14.4) and third in steals (1.9). Since the season began, she has scored in double figures 30 times, including eight 20-point outings, and has notched at least five assists in 21 games.
Diggins continued her stellar play in the NCAA tournament, leading the Irish to the second championship game appearance in school history, ten years after Notre Dame captured the national title in 2001. However, the Fighting Irish lost to the Texas A&M Aggies in the final game of the 2011 women's basketball tournament, by a score of 76-70. In the losing effort, Diggins finished with 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. She made 8 of 9 free-throws in the game, including two with 40.7 seconds remaining. But the sophomore struggled from beyond the arc, sinking only 1 of 5 three-point attempts. Diggins also committed 6 turnovers, the last one ending Notre Dame's chances for good as the game clock wound down. As the Associated Press reported, "Diggins, fighting back tears, said the Irish couldn't handle A&M's pressure. 'We turned it over too much. I don't know if it was nerves or what,' she said. 'We just didn't handle the pressure.'"
In the semifinal game, the Notre Dame point guard led her team to victory over heavily-favored UConn (the number-one team in the country) with 28 points (her highest single-game total on the season), 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Diggins also made all six of her free-throw attempts in the familiar confines of Conseco Fieldhouse, where she had previously led her high school team to three straight championships. Notre Dame was victorious in its third Final Four appearance ever, defeating the two-time defending champion Huskies by a score of 72-63.
This came after beating the University of Tennessee (fourth-ranked team in the country) in the regional final by a score of 73-59. Diggins scored a then-season-high 24 points in the game, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 NCAA Dayton Regional. What's more, with her performance against the Lady Vols, Diggins went over the 1,000-point mark for her career, becoming just the second Notre Dame women’s basketball player to reach that milestone before the end of her sophomore season. She has also showed her prowess as a floor-leader throughout the tournament, even dishing out a career-high 12 assists (most by a Notre Dame player in more than 11 years) in the Irish's 78-53 Sweet 16 victory over Oklahoma. By beating Tennessee and UConn, Diggins and The Lady Irish became the first team to ever beat both teams in the same tournament.
For her excellence on the court, Diggins has been selected by the Associated Press as a 2011 Third Team All-American and she has also been honored as one of ten members of the 2011 State Farm Coaches All-America Team. She joined Baylor's Brittney Griner as one of only two sophomores honored, and was just the third Irish women's basketball player to earn the award, joining Ruth Riley (2001) and Jacqueline Batteast (2005).
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