TOLEDO – How sweet it is.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is back in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament yet again.

The Irish outstanding trio of Natalie Achonwa, Kayla McBride and Jewell Loyd made sure of that Monday night.

The trio sparked a second-half surge as the second-ranked and undefeated Irish pulled away to defeat Arizona State 84-67 in a second-round game in Savage Arena.

The Irish (33-0) now get to return to South Bend to host their own regional starting on Saturday.

Notre Dame will face Oklahoma State (25-8) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Purcell Pavilion. Baylor (31-4) will meet Kentucky (26-8) at noon Saturday in the regional opener.

The winners Saturday return to Notre Dame next Monday night to play for the regional title and a spot in the Final Four in Nashville.

It’s the fifth straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen for the Irish and 12th in the last 18 years. Notre Dame has advanced to the Final Four each of the last three years.

The top-seeded Irish, who won their tourney opener by 51 points on Saturday, struggled for the first half Monday night versus the Sun Devils. Notre Dame led just 32-26 at halftime.

The second half was all Irish as the deep and veteran team outscored Arizona State 52-41 for the win. Notre Dame shot 53 percent from the field in the final half.

Achonwa, a 6-3 senior center, poured in 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Senior guard McBride, the ACC Player of the Year, had 22 points and nine assists. Star sophomore guard Loyd popped in 19 points to go with seven rebounds.

The Irish, behind Achonwa, outscored the Sun Devils 46-34 in the paint. The Irish also hit 25-32 free throws and had 19 assists. Both teams had 22 turnovers in the contest.

Arizona State finishes its season at 23-10.

No. 21 and fifth-seeded Oklahoma State knocked off Purdue in West Lafayette 73-66 Monday night to earn the right to play the Irish.

Baylor beat California 75-56 and Kentucky topped Syracuse 64-59 in other second-round action Monday night.