The idea of Western Kentucky being the David that takes down a Goliath is diminishing by the season. When the Lady Toppers take the court against top 25 teams, they’ve shown up to either hang tight until the last minute or pull off an upset.

It’s now become the expectation around the women’s basketball program. The same holds true Tuesday when a real Goliath comes to E.A. Diddle Arena.

In one of the biggest regular-season games to date in the Michelle Clark-Heard era, WKU (1-1) welcomes No. 6 Notre Dame for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Diddle Arena. The Fighting Irish (1-0) have been to five of the last seven Final Fours with four appearances in the national championship games.

Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw is in her 31st season leading Notre Dame with a 766-227 record and a national championship in 2001.

Notre Dame is one of the Goliaths – next to UConn and Tennessee – in women’s college basketball coming to play a WKU team confident as ever.

The Lady Toppers opened the year by beating No. 23 Missouri, then lost to Iowa in overtime in front of 3,649 fans Saturday. WKU’s first four games are a tall order with Notre Dame, then and a road trip to Indiana on Friday.

“Our expectation every time we play is when we hit the court we want to win,” Heard said. “I feel like our team was prepared and we knew what we were going to face. … We’ve been trying to prepare our team this way the whole season. Not only do we have Notre Dame coming in, we still have to go to Indiana. Our schedule is really tough.”

Senior Tashia Brown was named the Conference USA Player of the Week after averaging 23 points per game at the Hawkeye Challenge. She scored 30 points in the 79-76 win over Missouri and single-handedly took over the game with 11 of the team’s final 14 points.

Fellow senior Ivy Brown had a career-high 31 points in the 104-97 overtime loss to Iowa. She shot 12-of-16 from the floor and hit 6-of-9 3-point attempts.

Redshirt sophomore Dee Givens was the spark of the tournament with 20 points against Missouri and 16 against Iowa. The Lexington native who appeared in just eight games last season made a loud comeback effort by making 13-of-26 field goals (.500), including 5-of-12 shots on 3-pointers (.417).

Junior Sidnee Bopp made seven triples in the tournament.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the Daily News in a phone interview Monday that not knowing which Lady Topper will have a big night makes them a dangerous road opponent.

“It’s just a great start to the season beating a very good Missouri team and we’ve played Iowa, I know it’s a really tough place to play,” McGraw said. “They’re a really dangerous team. They have three people have big nights and you have to guard everybody. They have a lot of talent, especially in the starting lineup.

“You have to guard everybody. Either of the Browns can certainly do a great job. Givens is somebody you have to worry about and off the bench you have to guard Bopp off the 3-point line.”

WKU averaged 88 points in its first two games and will welcome a Notre Dame team that had its third-highest point total in program history after a 121-65 win over Mount Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

The Fighting Irish, winners of four straight Atlantic Coastal Conference regular-season and tournament championships, will bring size and depth WKU hasn’t faced in a while, Heard said.

“They’re loaded and there’s a reason they’re top 5 in the country,” Heard said. “(McGraw) has multiple players that can score and with Jessica Shepard eligible on the inside there’s five players you’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention to every single time. It’s going to be interesting. We just have to be in position to correct mistakes made in the Iowa tournament.”

Shepard was granted immediate eligibility on Nov. 1 after transferring from Nebraska. The 6-foot-4 junior forward averaged 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds last year at Nebraska and was named the Big 10 Freshman of the Year in 2016.

Shepard is Notre Dame’s primary post player with injuries to seniors Breanna Turner (6-3) and Kathryn Westbeld (6-2). Shepard had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the home opener.

Junior Akira Ogunbowale led Notre Dame with 21 points against Mount St. Mary’s and joined the 1,000-point club. Guards Jackie Young, Marina Mabrey and Lili Thompson filled the starting lineup beside Ogunbowale and Shepard in the season opener.

“To be the best, you have to beat the best and play the best,” Brown said. “To play a team like Notre Dame is awesome and I’m just really excited that they’re coming in here and we have that opportunity.”