ND Women's BB '17 -'18 Season

[texbender]

Note the Muffet effect: we score 45 in the first half and they score 47. In the second half we score 45 again, they score 37. Who outcoached who?

... and Kat warrioring it out for 32 minutes, sewing the team together, and doing things no one will ever notice. (I saw late in the game a drive by one of our girls which Kat saw before anyone else, and positioned herself to subtly move around walling off the entire paint area for an uncontested lay-up drill lay-in.)

Ladies, you are a miracle regardless of what happens next.

Agree, this team and season is a Hollywood story...winning it all would go down as a Miracle Season. Good luck Monday night.

 

[BGIF]

No. 1 Irish Feeling Elite

No. 1 Irish Feeling Elite

No. 1 Irish Feeling Elite After 90-84 Win over No. 4 Texas A&M :: Notre Dame Women's Basketball :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of ND Athletics

SPOKANE, Wash. -- For the ninth time in program history, the No. 1-seeded University of Notre Dame women's basketball team has reached the Elite Eight. The Irish (32-3) used yet another strong second half performance to surge past No. 4 Texas A&M, 90-84.

Arike Ogunbowale (27 points) and Marina Mabrey (25 points) combined for 52 points on the afternoon. Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half, while Mabrey connected on a career-high seven three-pointers (7-for-11).

Not to be outshone, Jessica Shepard delivered with her fifth straight double-double, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jackie Young then rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points.

I'm so proud of this team and what we accomplished, especially Kathryn Westbeld. I thought the jumper she hit from the free-throw line was the difference in the game. That was the game winner.

I really thought Marina shot the ball extremely well. Jackie took over the game for a stretch late in the fourth quarter. Just phenomenal play by our guards.

McGraw​

How It Happened
At 6:37 in the second quarter, the Irish found themselves down 37-24, their largest deficit of the game. At that very moment, the Irish lived up to their fighting moniker and produced a 9-0 run, getting contributions from Mabrey, Patterson, Young and Ogunbowale. Notre Dame would go on to hit nine of its last 10 shots from the field heading into the half, cutting the deficit to 47-45.

Mabrey was a major reason for the Irish comeback, converting five of her three's in the first half to total 17 points by the midway point.

Next, the duo of Mabrey and Ogunbowale combined for 16 of the team's 23 points in the third quarter, pushing ahead of the Aggies to take a 68-63 lead heading into the final period.

Ogunbowale, who leads the Irish in fourth quarter scoring on the year, continued the trend today with nine points over the final 10 minutes, including seven points which came in the first four minutes of the fourth.

A Young layup with 5:09 remaining handed Notre Dame its largest lead of the game at 79-70, but Texas A&M wouldn't go away, hitting three consecutive three-pointers over a 90-second stretch, ultimately cutting the lead to 85-82.

With the game on the line, "the glue" Kat Westbeld answered with a clutch jumper from the free-throw line with 1:15 remaining, starting what was a 5-0 Irish run that punched Notre Dame's ticket to the Elite Eight with the 90-84 final.

Player of the Game
Marina Mabrey finished 7-of-11 from three to tally 25 points, all of which came in the first three quarters. Mabrey's seven treys were the most by an Irish player in an NCAA Tournament game and the most overall since Alicia Ratay converted seven back in February of 2003.

Stat of the Game
The Irish have now totaled 287 points through three NCAA Tournament games, the most of any team to reach the Elite Eight. Thus, Notre Dame is averaging 95.7 points per game.

Notes

• Saturday marked the fourth-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Texas A&M. The Irish have now leveled the series at 2-2.
• The Irish move to 59-23 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
• Irish are now 9-7 in the Sweet 16 round.
• Today's victory gives Coach McGraw win No. 797 at Notre Dame and No. 885 overall.
• The Irish have advanced to their ninth-ever Elite Eight.
• Only Notre Dame and UConn have reached the Elite Eight seven times in the last eight years.
• Notre Dame has scored more points than any team to have reached the Elite Eight, totaling 287 points through three games (95.7 ppg).
• Mabrey's seven three-pointers marked a career high and were the most by an Irish player in an NCAA Tournament game and the most overall since Alicia Ratay hit seven against Providence on Feb. 16, 2003.
• Mabrey became the first Irish player to hit five threes in a half since her sister, Michaela, did so at Boston College on Feb. 8, 2015.
• Ogunbowale, who leads the team in fourth quarter scoring at 6.0 ppg, tallied nine points in the fourth quarter tonight.
• Ogunbowale continued the best stretch of her career tonight with a team-high 27 points, including 17 points in the second half. Ogunbowale has now recorded five straight games with 20-plus points and 24 games overall with 20-plus.
• Shepard secured her fifth straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She becomes the first Irish player to earn five straight since Jacqueline Batteast did so from Dec. 12, 2001-Jan. 2, 2002.
• Shepard now boasts 14 double-doubles on the year, which ties Katryna Gaither for the fourth-most in a single season.
• Notre Dame's 26 assists tied for the third most in an NCAA Tournament game in school history.
• Notre Dame's 37 made field goals were the third-most in school history in an NCAA game.
• Notre Dame hit a season high 10 made three-pointers, which tied for the second most in an NCAA game.

UP NEXT
The Irish will vie for the Spokane Regional crown on Monday, March 26, against the No. 2 seeded-Oregon Ducks, who knocked off No. 11 Central Michigan, 83-69. Monday's Spokane Regional Final will tip off at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

 

[BGIF]

https://texags.com/s/27763/aggies-drop-hard-fought-season-ending-contest-to-notre-dame-90-84

Even though we were up 12 or 13 or whatever it was, we knew Notre Dame would come back. And they were hitting shots and they were doing what they needed to. That’s why they’re a number one team and played the hardest schedule in the country.

Coach Blair

 

[dad4aa]

Still bothers me that Notre Dane is the #1 seed and travels 1600 miles across three time zones to play the #2 seed who travels less than 500 miles in the same time zone. NCAA always screws ND yet UCONN travels 2 hours to Albany,

 

[BGIF]

I agree it's a travel disadvantage but wasn't ND the #4 seed overall, the 4th #1?

ND had the opportunity to play closer to home. Beat UL in the ACC CG and ND goes to Lexington.

Carpe diem!

 

[dad4aa]

I agree it's a travel disadvantage but wasn't ND the #4 seed overall, the 4th #1?

ND had the opportunity to play closer to home. Beat UL in the ACC CG and ND goes to Lexington.

Carpe diem!

Not sure. I don’t want to take the time to look it up but IIRC the same thing happened in the past, possibly even when Ruth Riley was here. We’ve had to travel out west a lot and UCONN never travels.

 

[arrowryan]

Still bothers me that Notre Dane is the #1 seed and travels 1600 miles across three time zones to play the #2 seed who travels less than 500 miles in the same time zone. NCAA always screws ND yet UCONN travels 2 hours to Albany,

I understand why Notre Dame had to travel the furthest out of the #1 seeds (being the 4th #1 seed). But how do they decide where the regional games are played? Because it seems like they pick out of a hat. Albany, Lexington, and Spokane? Really? NCAAW is trying to gain popularity in the sports world; they need to pick bigger, more eye appealing cities.

And don't even get me started on how the hell Columbus freaking Ohio gets to host the Final Four and championship. Thank God Ohio State didn't make it to the final four. I could name about 100 cities that would be better hosts than Columbus.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Not sure. I don’t want to take the time to look it up but IIRC the same thing happened in the past, possibly even when Ruth Riley was here. We’ve had to travel out west a lot and UCONN never travels.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of diversity in regional selection sites.

2010/11 - 2 Seed - Dayton
2011/12 - 1 Seed - Raleigh Region
2012/13 - 1 Seed - Raleigh Region
2013/14 - 1 Seed - Notre Dame region (yes, the payed at home)
2014/15 - 1 Seed - Ok. City Region
2015/16 - 1 Seed - Lexington
2016/17 - 1 Seed - Lexington

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of diversity in regional selection sites.

2010/11 - 2 Seed - Dayton
2011/12 - 1 Seed - Raleigh Region
2012/13 - 1 Seed - Raleigh Region
2013/14 - 1 Seed - Notre Dame region (yes, the payed at home)
2014/15 - 1 Seed - Ok. City Region
2015/16 - 1 Seed - Lexington
2016/17 - 1 Seed - Lexington

2014 was different because the NCAA was trying a different model where the top seeds hosted the regionals instead of the first two rounds. That year we played in Toledo in the first two rounds.

Besides that though, we just kind of had bad luck with our picks in terms of diversity. There are a couple cities that host repeatedly and we just so happened to be in those regionals lately. Here is a list of all the regional sites for the last decade (excluding 2014) and the next few years:

2008: Oklahoma City, Spokane, Greensboro, New Orleans, FF Tampa Bay
2009: Oklahoma City, Berkeley, Raleigh, Trenton, FF St. Louis
2010: Dayton, Sacramento, Kansas City, Memphis, FF San Antonio
2011: Dayton, Spokane, Dallas, Philadelphia, FF Indianapolis
2012: Fresno, Des Moines, Raleigh, Kingston, FF Denver
2013: Spokane, Oklahoma City, Norfolk, Bridgeport, FF New Orleans
2015: Spokane, Oklahoma City, Greensboro, Albany, FF Tampa Bay
2016: Lexington, Bridgeport, Sioux Falls, Dallas, FF Indianapolis
2017: Lexington, Bridgeport, Oklahoma City, Stockton, FF Dallas
2018: Lexington, Albany, Kansas City, Spokane, FF Columbus
2019: Chicago, Albany, Portland, Greensboro, FF Tampa Bay
2020: Portland, Dallas, Fort Wayne, Greenville, FF New Orleans

 

[BGIF]

Women's NCAA tournament -- Expect offensive fireworks when Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks meet in Elite Eight

Shooting stars, offensive fireworks on tap when Irish, Ducks face off
play
12:27 AM CT
Kevin Pelton ESPN Staff Writer

Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu is averaging nearly a triple-double (21.3 points per game, 10 assists and 8.7 rebounds) throughout the NCAA tournament

SPOKANE, Wash. -- There will be plenty at stake for the Oregon Ducks when they face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night in a battle of the top two seeds in the women's NCAA tournament's West region, with the winner advancing to the Final Four. But as a self-described fan of offensive basketball, Oregon coach Kelly Graves also appreciates what the matchup will offer from a viewing standpoint.

These two great offenses, I think this is going to be one of those epic games. I know a lot of people in women's college basketball are looking forward to it. Two teams with a lot of skill offensively, a lot of different weapons, star power. This should be a fun game.

According to HerHoopStats, the game pits two of the nation's top five offensive teams against each other. Oregon trails only undefeated UConn -- one of the two teams to beat Notre Dame this season -- at 118.0 points per 100 possessions, while the Irish aren't far behind in fifth, with a 114.6 offensive rating.

The star power Graves referenced should produce interesting individual matchups. Notre Dame guards Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale, who combined for 52 points and 14 assists in Saturday's high-scoring, 90-84 win over Texas A&M, will square off with Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu. Both teams' coaches cited stopping the opposing backcourt as key.

Sabrina is just a phenomenal player, just phenomenal. So difficult to guard. I've never seen a player, especially so young, already got the record for triple-doubles -- but the assists are what's so impressive to me. It's a challenge to figure out how to defend them. She can just pick you apart. I mean, she's just so smart and crafty with the ball. It's fun watching her when you're not on the other bench.

McGraw

Graves had impressive words for Notre Dame's guards, as well.

We can't let Mabrey go off and score three at a time. She's, what, 15-of-23 from the 3-point line in the tournament? When she hits a 3, it seems like it's 4. You know the next one now is going to go down easier.

I think Arike is special. She truly is. We cannot allow her to make plays in transition. We just can't. We've got to sprint back. We've got to make sure we take care of the ball so that we can all get back and take away any driving lanes that Arike might have.

The ability of both teams to shoot the 3 (Oregon leads all Division I teams by making 40.6 percent of its 3-pointers; Notre Dame is 30th at 36.8 percent) creates plenty of space for their post players to operate inside. Irish forward Jessica Shepard has averaged 15.5 points on 56.8 percent shooting; Ducks counterpart Ruthy Hebard makes 66.0 percent of her shot attempts, including an NCAA-record 33 consecutive makes earlier this season.

With so much firepower on both sides, Monday's game might be decided by which team can actually stop the other.

When you have games like that, whoever can put together a great quarter of defense, that might be the difference. Maybe that's a three- or four-minute stretch of good defense. That might be a three- or four-consecutive-stops kind of defense that I think will really impact the game.

Graves

That was the winning formula for Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish gave up more than 130 points per 100 possessions to the Aggies in the first half, but held them to 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting in the third quarter. Notre Dame's seven-point edge in that period proved the difference in a six-point win. McGraw expects the regional final to play out in similar fashion.

It would be great if we could have a strong defensive game throughout but we're not a great defensive team. We need to really battle a little bit more. I think with the limited bench that we have, it makes it difficult for them. So I think defense is going to be a key to the game. Both teams have high-powered offense. It's going to be a matter of who can get some stops.

McGraw

Neither Notre Dame nor Oregon has been nearly as strong defensively as on offense, ranking outside the NCAA's top 100 in defensive rating. Graves believes his team has been defending better for the past month, and the numbers back that up. Since the start of the Pac-12 tournament, the Ducks have allowed just one of their six opponents to score more points per possession than they typically average, according to HerHoopStats research. That came in the Pac-12 tournament final, when Stanford barely crept over its season-long mark in a game Oregon won by 20 points.

As McGraw noted, one reason the Irish have struggled defensively is their limited depth. After losing four players to ACL tears, Notre Dame has been limited to seven scholarship players since the start of conference play. The Irish have survived the injuries to get this far by relying on their healthy starters (including forward Kathryn Westbeld, who played 32 minutes on Saturday despite spraining an ankle last week, which has her in a walking boot off the court) and avoiding foul trouble. Only UConn has a lower foul rate this season, per HerHoopStats.com. (The Ducks rank 20th in this category, another reason Monday's game should be fun to watch.)

Still, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair mused on Saturday after his team's loss that depth could eventually be Notre Dame's undoing.

"I think Notre Dame could get hurt by some faster teams that have a longer bench than us, that could rotate more guards in," he said. "We just didn't have that, OK? But you've got teams like Louisville. That's the only thing I could see that could hurt Notre Dame."

That might be Oregon. Graves is comfortable going to his bench, which contributed 15 points in the Ducks' win over Central Michigan on Saturday.

"I always feel like we have an advantage when it comes to depth," he said. "We try to get all our players some rest. I love our bench. I trust our bench."

Along with the game being played nearly 2,000 miles west of South Bend, Indiana, the Ducks' superior depth helps make this perhaps the closest regional final on paper. (In fact, lower-seeded Oregon might even be the favorite; FiveThirtyEight's NCAA tournament projections give the Ducks a 56 percent chance to win.) That's all the more reason to be excited about Monday's game. Ionescu, for her part, can't wait.

"I think we're just as talented as they are," she said. "So I'm excited to see how we match up with their players. I'm excited to see how we grow. I wish the game was today."

 

[BGIF]

ND v Oregon per the gurus

ND v Oregon per the gurus

https://www.masseyratings.com/cbw/ncaa-d1/games

Date	Team	Pred  Pwin Margin Total	
Mon 03.26  ORE   80   41 %
9:00pm ET   ND   83   59 %  -3.5   162.5

Sagarin PREDICTOR
ND        101.58
OR          99.22
Margin      2.36

Sagarin RECENT
ND        104.29
OR        100.78
Margin      3.51

FIVETHIRTYEIGHT
TEAM SCORE WIN PROB.
ORE 	—	56%
UND     —	44%

 

[dshans]

12:27 AM CT

Scheisse.

Past my EDT bed time.

I think that I'll try to take a nap now. I hope it works.

Go, ladies, Go, Go. Go!

 

[BGIF]

Scheisse.

Past my EDT bed time.

I think that I'll try to take a nap now. I hope it works.

Go, ladies, Go, Go. Go!

12:27 AM CT

Ah, dick, that was the article publishing time NOT the game time.


The ND v Oregon Elite Eight Game coverage starts at 8:00 pm CT, Monday, on ESPN.

 

[BGIF]

March 26, 2018

Ogunbowale Named AP Second Team All-American
Junior reels in her third All-American award this season

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s basketball junior guard Arike Ogunbowale continues to get recognized as one of the game’s best. On Monday, the Associated Press announced its All-America Team with Ogunbowale earning Second Team honors.

Ogunbowale becomes the 17th different Irish player to earn AP All-America distinction. In fact, a Notre Dame player has been named an AP All-American for nine consecutive years.

The Milwaukee native also picks up her third All-America award this season, previously honored by espnW and USA Today. All-in-all, Ogunbowale becomes the 20th different All-American in program history.

Ogunbowale averages a team best 20.8 points per game, which also ranks 18th in the nation. The junior is currently riding the best stretch of her career, recording five straight games with 20-plus points. In fact, Ogunbowale has shattered the Notre Dame single season record for 20-point games, as she is now up to 24 on the year.

Ogunbowale has certainly shone brightest here on the big stage, averaging 27.0 points on 48.4 percent shooting during the NCAA Tournament. Ogunbowale is also averaging 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the three-game stretch as well.

Ogunbowale and the rest of the No. 1 Fighting Irish will look to punch their ticket to the 2018 Women’s Final Four tonight at 9 p.m. ET vs No. 2 Oregon on ESPN.

-- ND --​

 

[BGIF]

AP Women's All-America Team Breakdown

AP Women's All-America Team Breakdown

https://collegebasketball.ap.org/ap-womens-all-america-team-breakdown


Neither Marina nor Jess got a mention.

 

[dshans]

Ah, dick, that was the article publishing time NOT the game time.


The ND v Oregon Elite Eight Game coverage starts at 8:00 pm CT, Monday, on ESPN.

Oh. I guess I can cancel the nap and eat some dinner.

Thanks for the smack on the back of my head.

 

[Old Man Mike]

That game vs A&M demonstrated what a leader Marina is. I've rarely seen ANY player (M or F) bark orders at their teammates to shape them up offensively like Marina did.

Every one of our starting five is VITAL to this team's function --- COMPLETELY vital. Jessica is the deep muscle and we have no other (except Koko once in a while), Arike is the unstoppable freight train and the one who bails us out as the shotclock goes, Kat is the stabilizer who is smarter than everyone and holds the 5 person array together and precisely balanced, Jackie is the Eternal Engine refusing to be beaten on both ends, and Marina is the Pit Boss, translating Muffet onto the floor.

Thank the Lord that the BBall injury "gods" left us these five.

What we would have been with Brianna to rebound and swat things away, and Mychal and Lili to give the guards a little rest, and in Mychal's case some defensive ferocity.

We are awfully damm good anyway.

 

[BabyIrish]

That game vs A&M demonstrated what a leader Marina is. I've rarely seen ANY player (M or F) bark orders at their teammates to shape them up offensively like Marina did.

Every one of our starting five is VITAL to this team's function --- COMPLETELY vital. Jessica is the deep muscle and we have no other (except Koko once in a while), Arike is the unstoppable freight train and the one who bails us out as the shotclock goes, Kat is the stabilizer who is smarter than everyone and holds the 5 person array together and precisely balanced, Jackie is the Eternal Engine refusing to be beaten on both ends, and Marina is the Pit Boss, translating Muffet onto the floor.

Thank the Lord that the BBall injury "gods" left us these five.

What we would have been with Brianna to rebound and swat things away, and Mychal and Lili to give the guards a little rest, and in Mychal's case some defensive ferocity.

We are awfully damm good anyway.

We're in the Elite 8 with basically 4.5 players with Kay battling her ankle all year. Ridiculous. What a team!

To answer your question I think we'd only have 1 loss to Louisville in the regular season and staring down at winning or second title. What could have been.

 

[BGIF]

Impressive win for Con.

Only 7 turnovers, shot 60% from the arc. Weakness ... only shot 59%.

They're 3 guards were 12 of 18 from the arc.

25 Assists on 37 buckets.

 

[loomis41973]

LaChina and Dave with the call.

Put a few $$ on the Ducks but rooting for ND.

 

[BGIF]

Her Hoop Stats Ratings

Her Hoop Stats Ratings

Team Overall Offense Defense
UConn 73.1 140.1 67.0
Bylor 58.5 129.6 71.1
MsSt 55.6 127.3 71.7
NDU  53.1 123.0 69.9
Lville 52.2 123.8 71.5
Ore  49.4 122.4 72.9
Texas 44.1 118.5 74.3
UCLA 40.5 116.0 75.5
SCar 40.0 116.5 76.6
FSU  39.7116.877.1

 

[BGIF]

Rico, Kat, to Jess for 2.

 

[BGIF]

Kat turnover.

 

[BGIF]

Kat short drive for 2.

Rico drive and dish to Kat for 2.

Tied at 6

 

[BGIF]

Kat reb adn fouled.

Ionesco left alone at the foul line for 2.

Rico THREE! ND by 1

Rico 16 ft Jumper ND by 3

 

[BGIF]

Kat couldn't get the handle on Marina pass.

Hebard's got 2 buckets on ORE last 2 trips.

Kat short J. ND by 1


Kat reb. Rico with another dish to Jackie for 2.


Timeout 4:07 - 1st ND 15-12

Kat 6 points on 3-3 shooting ... that's a typical "game" stat in the first 6 minutes

 

[BGIF]

Rico short J. ND by 1.

Koko's in for Kat.

 

[BGIF]

Oregon only has one player from Oregon.

 

[BGIF]

Mabs reb.

Mabs pass to Koko for 2.

 

[BGIF]

Jackie to Jess for 2.

Ore answers.

Ionesco 8 pts.


Koko stripped.