ND Women's BB '18 -'19 Season

[SouthSideChiDomer]

I legitimately don't know if I can watch this last minute. Please keep the updates coming quick.

 

[Andy in Sactown]

What a great game.

 

[loomis41973]

This ain't good on my ticker...

 

[BGIF]

Walker drives by SHep for 2. TIE

Jackie pullup NG

Ct break. Mabs STRIP! called for foul

Williams misses #1, makes #2

CT by 1

2:59 to play

Jackie to Shep, High low to Bri. Foul on Walker

Rico to Bri to Shep for the lead

Young PF#3

CT deuce CT by 1

Walker fouls Turner on Mabrey pass.

RIco for TWO DN by 1

2 MINUTES

Mab Reach IN PF#3

Samuelson baseline beats SHep
\
Ct by 1

Shep for the key ND by 1

Dangerfield drives SHORT.

ND reb. RICO FOULED Made #1, nD by 2 Made Both ND by 3

58 seconds CT TIME OUT ND by 3!

All 5 ND in double figures scoring. Mabrey double double 12 pts. 12 assist

TURNER BLOCK ND Ball

ND by 5

Samuelson 3 NG. Turner REBOUND! Fouled.

Rico FOULED at 39.5 secons

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

This ain't good on my ticker...

I'm just going to say this is my cardio for the day.

 

[BGIF]

Bri FTs Split.

Timeout CT 23 secons. ND by 6

 

[Irish#1]

2nd FT would have sealed it

 

[BGIF]

This ain't good on my ticker...

Wanna borrow my nitro?

 

[Irish#1]

Yes

 

[loomis41973]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO...Congrats to my favorite team and coach on campus.

Rebounds were huge!!!

 

[BGIF]

ND multiple shots, none went but ND ball as Turner fouled.

Made one MADE PAIR

ND by 8

WIlliams TREY



FINAL NOTRE DAME 81 76

 

[NorthDakota]

Eat shit UCONN

 

[dad4aa]

Always good when you can win playing 5 on 8. Great game ladies. One more to go.

 

[BGIF]

FINAL ND 81 CT 76

FINAL ND 81 CT 76

Matchup	CT  ND	
FG	31-73	30-75
FG%	42.5	40.0
3PT	8-28	7-20
3PT%	28.6	35.0
FT	6-9	14-16
FT%	66.7	87.5
Rebs	37	52
ORebs	11	20
DRebs	26	32
Team Rebs	0	0
Assists	20	24
Steals	4	3
Blocks	7	5
Turnovers	7	9
Team TOs	0	1
Total TOs	7	9
Fouls	14	12

 

[BGIF]

Love the Muffet Jig!

 

[BGIF]

Game Box

Game Box

UConn

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
N. CollierF	--	7-14	1-2	0-0	5	8	13	1	0	4	1	1	15
M. WalkerG	--	6-12	2-6	0-0	0	8	8	2	2	2	0	4	14
C. WilliamsG	--	7-15	2-4	3-4	1	1	2	2	0	0	1	3	19
C. DangerfiG	--	2-11	0-6	0-0	0	3	3	9	2	0	1	2	4
K. SamuelsG	--	7-17	3-10	3-3	1	1	2	6	0	1	4	3	20
BENCH	        MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
O. OdodaF	--	 2-4	0-0	0-2	1	4	5	0	0	1	0	1	4
TEAM		      31-73	8-28	6-9	11	26	37	20	4	8	7	14	76
 		          42.5%	28.6%	66.7%

Notre Dame
STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS

J. ShepardF	--	10-19	0-0	0-0	7	6	13	7	1	0	3	2	20
B. TurnerF	--	4-9	0-0	7-8	6	9	15	2	0	5	0	2	15
M. MabreyG	--	4-14	3-10	1-2	1	2	3	12	1	0	4	3	12
A. OgunboG	--	7-18	3-8	6-6	0	6	6	1	1	0	0	0	23
J. YoungG	--	5-15	1-2	0-0	2	3	5	2	0	0	0	3	11
BENCH	      MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
D. PattersF	--	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
M. VaughnC	--	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
A. ProhasG	--	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM		       30-77	7-20	14-16	21	32	53	24	3	5	9	12	81
 		      39.0%	35.0%	87.5%

 

[BGIF]

Final 7:33 Minutes of Play

Final 7:33 Minutes of Play

Team CT ND

PTs 12 26
FG 5-13 7-14
FG% 38  50
FT 1-2 9-10
3PT 1-3 3-4

 

[Irish#1]

Genoa sure rushed through the handshakes. He doesn’t take losing very well. Lol

 

[BGIF]

Final   1	2	3	4	T
CT	16	14	24	22	76
ND	12	17	23	29	81

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

Outscored them 24-9 in the final 7:53.

Wow. Just wow.

 

[BGIF]

Ogunbowale, Irish rally, top UConn 81-76, now play for title

Associated Press 10:31 pm

TAMPA, Fla. -- Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and led Notre Dame's rally from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter as the defending champion Irish beat UConn 81-76 Friday night to return to the title game.

The Irish will face Baylor for the crown Sunday night, trying to become the fourth different school to win consecutive championships -- UConn, Tennessee and Southern California have done it. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw danced a little jig at midcourt after this comeback victory.

Baylor beat Oregon 72-67 in the first semifinal, setting up a rematch of the 2012 national championship game the Lady Bears won 80-61.

This game between the Huskies and the Irish was a rematch of last season's Final Four classic that Notre Dame won on a last-second shot by Ogunbowale. This one -- the latest chapter in the greatest rivalry in women's basketball over the past decade -- provided a fitting encore.

Notre Dame (35-3) trailed 64-55 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 13 of the next 16 to take a 68-66 lead on Ogunbowale's short jumper with 3:56 left. The teams then traded the lead five times over the next few minutes with Jessica Shepard hitting a jumper from the foul line with 1:27 left to put the Irish ahead 75-74.

Katie Lou Samuelson scored 20 points for coach Geno Auriemma's Huskies (35-3).

---

Follow Doug Feinberg on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg

 

[Irish YJ]

big win. great 4Q. Championship game should be a good one.
Can't wait to see Mulkey's outfit lol.

 

[loomis41973]

big win. great 4Q. Championship game should be a good one.
Can't wait to see Mulkey's outfit lol.

Did you see what MM wore tonight?

 

[Irish YJ]

Did you see what MM wore tonight?

no, not really. i was flipping over to catch the score every once in a while, but never really paid attention when I tuned in late. was it hot? lol

 

[stpeteirish]

I was at the game. Great finish by the girls. They busted their asses on defense in the final minutes and it really made a difference. We played more man than usual and it was the reason we won, IMO. Jackie Young really had her hands full with Samuelson but she held her down and Turner did a great job on Collier.

Crowd was about 50/50, UConns's band was louder.

Also watched the Baylor/Oregon game. Baylor is gigantic. Might be touch for Jackie Young to get her shots inside vs them. But they'll have no answer for Arike (who does?).

They'll be way more ND fans than Baylor's on Sun.

 

[BGIF]

Women's Final Four: Takeaways from Notre Dame's win over UConn
Charlie Creme ESPN.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- For the second straight year, Notre Dame beat UConn in the Women's Final Four. Friday's 81-76 win put the defending NCAA champion Irish in the title game against Baylor on Sunday.

Here's how Notre Dame won.

Turner helps Irish come out on top

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw has repeatedly said that senior Brianna Turner is the anchor of the Irish defense. Those words proved prophetic in Friday's win. Turner made the biggest defensive play of the night, and of her career, with 49 seconds left and the Irish clinging to a 76-73 lead.

UConn's Napheesa Collier had what looked to be an easy layup, but Turner moved back across the lane and extended her arm to block the shot and snag the loose ball. Arike Ogunbowale hit two free throws at the other end and Notre Dame was finally clear of the Huskies in a game that featured 26 lead changes.

The block was Turner's fifth of the game and 371st of her career, moving her past Ruth Riley on the school's all-time list.​

Turner, who missed all of last season to rehab a torn ACL as Notre Dame won its second national championship, was a force all night, with 15 points and 15 rebounds. She was effective in limiting Collier, especially in the second half. UConn's leading scorer managed only four points after halftime.

The win was not only Notre Dame's second straight in the Final Four against UConn, it was the Irish's ninth in the past 10 seasons over the Huskies. The rest of Division I has only eight.​

Arike does it again
It wasn't the buzzer-beating heroics of last year's Final Four, but Ogunbowale once again delivered in the second half. The senior scored only two points on 1-of-7 shooting in what was a bad shooting display in the first half for both teams. She finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting.

Second-half awakenings are a habit for Ogunbowale. In last year's Final Four, she scored five and two points in the first half against UConn and Mississippi State, respectively, but ended those games with 22 and 16 points, including buzzer-beating winning shots in both.

Samuelson doesn't go quietly

While fellow senior Collier struggled in the second half of her final college game, Katie Lou Samuelson was brilliant. After a scoreless first half, Samuelson produced 20 points, including three 3-pointers, after halftime on 7-of-12 shooting.

The Huskies struggled from beyond the arc most of the night, but Samuelson gave them a boost. With 7:51 to play, UConn took a 64-55 lead after a 10-3 run that began with a Samuelson 3-pointer.

Samuelson and Collier finish their UConn careers with only five career losses -- but three of them came in the national semifinals the past three seasons. Those losses were by a total of nine points.

Neither team shot well early
Both teams struggled mightily on offense in the first half, mostly due to bad shooting. UConn was 2-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half. Notre Dame was 1-of-11. Frustrated with his team's offense as a whole, at one point late in the half, Geno Auriemma turned to his assistant coaches and said, "I have no idea what we are doing."

Both teams were better in the second half, but the Huskies' 8-of-28 shooting from 3-point range for the game was still way off the 14 3-pointers they made against Louisville in the Elite Eight. Notre Dame, riding Ogunbowale's second half and a reemergence of Marina Mabrey, made 6-of-8 from beyond the arc after halftime.

UConn outshot Notre Dame 42 percent to 39 percent from the field for the game, but the Irish outrebounded the Huskies 54-37 and scored 22 second-chance points, the second most the Huskies have given up this season.

Mabrey finally warms up
With the most prolific offense in the country this season, Notre Dame prides itself on having five starters who average better than 13 points. But Mabrey's scoring had disappeared in the NCAA tournament; she totaled 12 points through the first four games.

Despite some early shooting woes, Maybrey finished with 12 points and two big second-half 3-pointers, including one that knotted the score at 66 with 4:26 to play, as Notre Dame erased a nine-point deficit.

 

[BGIF]

Notre Dame knocks off UConn once again in Women's Final Four
Mechelle Voepel espnW.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- Brianna Turner was watching this spectacle -- the top rivalry in women's basketball -- last year when her Notre Dame teammates knocked off UConn in overtime in the Women's Final Four. This year, Turner was right at the heart of the Fighting Irish tearing the Huskies' hearts out again.

The Irish senior, who had to sit out last season after an ACL injury suffered in the 2017 NCAA tournament, came up huge Friday as Notre Dame beat UConn 81-76 to advance to Sunday's title game against Baylor. It will be a rematch of the NCAA final in 2012, when the Irish also beat the Huskies in the national semifinals.

In fact, even though UConn still leads the all-time series with the Irish 37-13, Notre Dame is 5-3 against UConn at the Women's Final Four. It took guard Arike Ogunbowale's big shot in the extra period to do that last year, and she was key again Friday with a team-high 23 points. Fourteen of those came in the final period.

"I don't think it was any mystery who was going to be taking the majority of their shots in the fourth quarter," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "That's the way they've always played since Arike has been there.

"She still has to make those shots, and she did. She's an almost impossible matchup one-on-one, you know. We knew that going in."

But Turner was as important as any Irish player, becoming her school's all-time leading shot-blocker (371) in the process, topping Ruth Riley-Hunter, who led the Irish to the 2001 national championship and will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. That's good company to be in for Turner, who finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots, including a key block against UConn's Napheesa Collier in the final minute.

"My only mindset was that UConn's season had to end tonight, no matter what it took," Turner said.

It did, but the Irish's vaunted offense had to come through in the fourth quarter when it looked as if the Huskies had taken control, going up nine with 7:52 left. Notre Dame can score like lightning can strike: suddenly and often. The Irish did that.

"We lost our heads for a couple minutes at the beginning of the fourth, took a couple of bad shots, didn't get stops, didn't communicate," said Irish senior Marina Mabrey, who had 12 points and 12 assists. "But I was saying, 'We need to get one stop, then one score, then it will go from there. Keep battling."

Notre Dame went on an 11-2 run, which included 3-pointers from Jackie Young, Ogunbowale and Mabrey. When Mabrey's trey swished with 4:25 left to make it 66-66, we once again were in for thrilling finish between these two teams

They've been the consistent best of women's basketball the past several years, with all of their meetings taking on the feeling of not just a game but an event. We were expecting quite a floor show Friday. While it wasn't that for the first half, as both teams struggled offensively, the payoff was rich in the second half.

The Irish went up 76-73 with 58.3 seconds left on two Ogunbowale free throws. After Collier's shot was blocked by Turner, Ogunbowale went to the foul line again and made both, putting the Irish up 78-73. UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson missed, and Turner got the rebound. She missed both foul shots, though, and UConn called timeout with 23 seconds left, down 79-73.

Samuelson missed another 3-pointer, and Turner then finished off the game with two free throws.

"She really long and athletic, and she's a player that alters shots when she's in there," Collier said of Turner. "And they are a great offensive team. It is hard to have the lead by nine and then lose the game."

The Irish starters provided all their points, with Jessica Shepard (20) and Young (11) joining Ogunbowale, Turner and Mabrey in double figures.

While the Irish were dancing their happy jig again, there were tears in UConn's locker room. Samuelson finished the game with 20 points, all coming in the second half. Collier had 15 points and 13 rebounds. They finished their careers in the top five all-time at UConn in scoring; Collier third with 2,401 and Samuelson fifth with 2,342.

But they won just one NCAA title, as freshmen. And Samuelson, who was injured in the 2016 semifinals and couldn't play in the final that year, ends her career without ever getting to play in a national championship game.

"That's my best friend," Samuelson said of Collier. "These four years have really been amazing. It's pretty sad that we're not going get to play again together. We've been through so much here. I just wish we could have pulled it out for UConn nation."

Collier and Samuelson lost just five games total in their careers. Three were in the NCAA semifinals, with Friday's disappointment following the losses to Notre Dame last year and to Mississippi State in 2017.

"We wanted to get to a championship so badly," Collier said. "I'm really proud of everything that we've been able to do this year. It wasn't easy. The fact that we were able to push through and get here is a great accomplishment, and I think we do need to sit back and acknowledge that."

But certainly after losing a lead in the fourth quarter, Auriemma and the Huskies have to be bitterly disappointed.

"Losing a game is part of life," Auriemma said. "But there's always tomorrow. There's always another game. There's always another season to get ready for.

"The thing that stings the most in your locker room, if you've ever played, is you look around and there's some people in the locker room that aren't going to be back next year. That hurts way more than the loss."

Neither team shot well in the first quarter. UConn was at 35 percent, and Notre Dame 30 percent. Ogunbowale didn't score in the opening period, after which the Huskies led 16-12.

The Irish opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, and the rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle between two normally good offenses that were not playing well. Turner picked up her second foul with 5:59 left in the second quarter and went to the bench, a blow to Notre Dame's defense.

Freshman Christyn Williams, who torched Notre Dame for 28 points in the Huskies' 89-71 victory at Notre Dame on Dec. 2, hit a buzzer-beater just before halftime, putting UConn up 30-29. Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, with the Huskies at 36.1 percent and the Irish at 35 percent. They were especially cold from behind the arc, going a combined 3 of 25.

Samuelson, who had seven 3-pointers in the Huskies' victory over Louisville in the Albany Regional final, went 0 for 4 from long range and was scoreless in the first half.

But Samuelson scored UConn's first points of the second half and finished the third quarter with 15 points, including three free throws with 1.0 seconds left. That put the Huskies up 54-52 going into the fourth quarter.

But with such a great offense and the Turner-led defense, the Irish prevailed.

"Brianna Turner was absolutely outstanding on defense," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "Arike in the second half does what Arike does."

Now the Irish get a chance to try to do it again and repeat as national champions.

 

[BGIF]

ND PC Transcript

ND PC Transcript

Quote of the PC

Shephard was asked when ND went down 9, nobody panicked. She replied:

I think for us as players, that was definitely the feeling. We had coach a little bit stressed (smiling). I think we knew that as long as we kept our composure, we just needed to get stops, we needed to get good offensive shots. I think Bri came up huge in the fourth quarter.

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 6, 2019

Muffet McGraw
Jessica Shepard
Arike Ogunbowale
Brianna Turner

Tampa, Florida

Notre Dame-81, UConn-76

THE MODERATOR: Joining us is Notre Dame. We'll take an opening statement from coach.

MUFFET McGRAW: That was an amazing second half. First half I thought we really struggled to score. The second half really just caught fire. I think we played our normal game in the third quarter.

But I thought Brianna Turner was absolutely outstanding on defense. She now has the blocked shot record at Notre Dame, beating Ruth Riley. So proud of her. She really single-handedly kept us in the game the first half. She had so many key blocked shots.

Arike in the second half did what Arike does. She had some huge screens, made some great plays, and then free throws down the stretch.

Jessica Shepard, what an amazing game. 20 and 13. Bri, 15 and 15. We felt like we needed to rebound in order to win and I thought we did that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Arike, seems the fourth quarter you take over games. What was your mindset down nine?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I think teammates talking to me. We said we had to get defensive stops. I think we really as a team picked up our defense. We were scoring, but we weren't giving stops. We were trading buckets. Once we started getting stops, started getting scores, that's when we went on a run.

Q. Brianna, you weren't on the floor with your team last year. Being out here this year, what was your mindset heading into the game?
BRIANNA TURNER: I was just really excited and focused, ready to go. I have had injuries in the past. I really kind of put that in the back of my head. Always looking forward.

Really looked forward to this game, being able to compete out there.

Q. Jess, for you to be out there 40 minutes, play every second of this game, to finish strong the way you did, is there an extra bit of significance for that for you given conditioning has been so central to the work you've put in?
JESSICA SHEPARD: I think strength coaches, I think the coaching staff just does a great job of getting us in shape. When it does come March and April we're ready to go out there and play. I think everyone played pretty high minutes today.

Q. Jessica, you come out of the timeout and go down nine, it doesn't look like anybody is panicking.
JESSICA SHEPARD: I think for us as players, that was definitely the feeling. We had coach a little bit stressed (smiling). I think we knew that as long as we kept our composure, we just needed to get stops, we needed to get good offensive shots. I think Bri came up huge in the fourth quarter.

ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I agree exactly what Jess said.

BRIANNA TURNER: I think the maturity of this team, being mostly upperclassmen playing tonight, just making sure we're staying relaxed, not getting too anxious. We knew against, like last week, coming out versus Stanford, coming out we were down, able to come back. Coach jokes we're a second half team. We knew we had to come back, whatever it took, no matter how many points it took.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you. We'll continue with questions for coach.

Q. Has this team improved from last year or do you feel it still needs some work?
MUFFET McGRAW: Well, I think Brianna gives us just a totally different look. What she can do defensively, she can switch out and guard the point guard, she can certainly guard the post. She's a shot blocking presence inside. I think it makes us a little more dominant inside, which won't be so dominant against Baylor because they're equally talented in the post.

We've had the advantage I think in a lot of games with our size. I don't expect that we're going to have that tomorrow or Sunday.

Q. The fourth quarter seems to be when Arike shines the brightest. Such a wonderful commentary yesterday about women empowerment. You have two women in the finals first time since 2012. Mean anything to you especially?
MUFFET McGRAW: The same two, I think, right?

I thought it was great to have a chance to say some things. But this weekend is really all about basketball right now. So we want to really focus on that. But I am excited to have two women in the final.

Arike just really got off to a slow start I thought in a lot of ways. She probably feels like she has to carry us because she's our leading scorer. She tries to do a little bit too much early, then sometimes not enough. I thought she really settled in at halftime. I think her teammates really help her. They continue to encourage her. She really came alive in the second half.

Q. Players joke about how stressed you are. Do you ever wonder if the magic isn't going to show up in the fourth quarter?
MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, that's the cause of my stress (laughter).

I get so frustrated because it just seems so easy. We're man-to-man, they're in zone. It's like they lose their focus, they're not paying attention, Katie Lou is going off for three after three after three, they can't find her. Offensively we call a play, we run something else. We looked a little out of sorts. I worry a lot.

All of a sudden shots start falling, we get a defensive stop, make a layup. We look at the scoreboard, went on an 8-0 run.

Q. You go down 62-55, did you take the timeout because you thought it was slipping away or did you just want to stop Connecticut's momentum?
MUFFET McGRAW: I think that was where we were in the wrong defense, so we felt like we really needed to talk about it again, to talk about we were supposed to be in man-to-man, we needed to find Katie Lou, just to kind of reaffirm what we were talking about at the start of the fourth quarter timeout.

Q. Jess has talked about coming here to win championships. That's the reason she came to Notre Dame. With the way your offense rewards facilitators out of the front court, in some ways it seems like she's kind of the perfect player for Notre Dame. Do you view her that way? Do you view that as an indispensable part of what's gotten you here?
MUFFET McGRAW: Yes, Jess is indispensable to what we do. She fits perfectly into our system. She is someone that loves to pass the ball. She probably wants to be a point guard. She went coast-to-coast on a steal. She is a great facilitator on who the post is. Over a hundred assists throughout the year. She makes our offense go. Bri can go down and be on the block, not worry about anything else because Jess is a great high-post player.

Q. In Philadelphia there is a term called the Philly guard. Your girls epitomize that, don't they?
MUFFET McGRAW: Marina (Mabrey), for sure. She comes by it very naturally. She is so feisty and so competitive, just never, ever quits. She missed a lot of shots in the first half. She was fearless in the second half. Feisty on defense. She's the one in the huddle that's really getting everybody going.

Q. Jess, she can be 6'4", facilitate. How does that translate to the next level? What kind of player do you see her being in the W?
MUFFET McGRAW: I think she'll be a great player at the next level. She can shoot threes. In our system she doesn't get a chance to do that a lot. This year she shot a lot more jumpers from the three-point line. Her free-throw percentage has really improved. I think she's proven she can face up and score in the WNBA.

 

[BGIF]

5Dimes Live Lines

5Dimes Live Lines

ND v Baylor

ND +1

 

[tko]

Just watched the clip on espn.com. Great win ladies, love beating UCONN. Geno can suck it. What a poor sport the way he walked through the handshaking. That is disgraceful.