Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2019 49 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL half — scoring 50 points after the intermission — highlighted by three fourth-quarter three-pointers by se- nior guard Marina Mabrey. All-time Notre Dame leading scorer Ogun- bowale finished with 31 points while Mabrey added 21, notably 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. A crucial turning point occurred with 1:22 remaining in the third quar- ter and the Bears cruising with a 62-50 advantage. Baylor 's 6-4 junior Lau- ren Cox, who joined 6-7 Kalani Brown on the nation's most formidable front line, suffered an MCL sprain and bone bruise in her knee during a battle for a rebound. Minus Cox the rest of the game, the Bears still took a 66-55 lead into the fourth quarter, but an Ogunbowale three-pointer at the third-quarter horn — an ominous sign for the Bears — had Notre Dame lurking with yet another rally. Plus, two nights earlier UConn had an almost identical lead (64-55) on the Fighting Irish with 7:55 left before falling 81-76. The Irish finished with 81 points again, but this time on the short end of the scoreboard. The Bears continued to keep Notre Dame at bay with a 70-63 edge, but Mabrey's third trey in a span of 2:05 knotted the score at 74 with 5:18 re- maining. An Ogunbowale free throw gave the Irish their first lead (77-76) since 3-2. It also would be their final advantage. Brown converted at 2:34 to put Bay- lor ahead 78-77, and a Jackson jumper at the 35-second mark put the Bears back up 80-78. Two free throws by Irish senior forward Jessica Shepard with 17 seconds remaining tied it again prior to NOTRE DAME'S ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME First Round: Notre Dame 92, Bethune Cookman 50 A significant disparity in size (and talent) allowed forwards Jessica Shepard (22 points and 13 re- bounds) and Brianna Turner (19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks) to have their way inside, as did sophomore Mikayla Vaughn (nine points and 11 rebounds). Arike Ogunbowale led the scoring with 23 points. Second Round: Notre Dame 91, Michigan State 63 After the Spartans trimmed the deficit to 28-19 on a three, Notre Dame went on a 19-1 run, with Michigan State not scoring from the field again until exactly six minutes later. By halftime the Irish doubled up Michigan State 52-26. Junior guard Jackie Young flirted with her third triple-double of the season before settling for 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Turner also produced a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Shepard nearly did, too, with 19 points and nine rebounds. After a typically slow start, Ogunbowale tallied a game-high 23 points to go with five assists. Sweet 16: Notre Dame 87, Texas A&M 80 Tied at 69 with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the veteran and reigning national champions called upon the clutch gene — specifically Ogunbowale — to stave off a young but ex- tremely game and confident Texas A&M outfit. Ogunbowale scored a career-high 34 points, 24 of them in the second half. It helped nullify a 35-point effort by vocal Texas A&M sophomore guard Chennedy Carter. Overshadowed was a superb all-around performance by Shepard with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Elite 8: Notre Dame 84, Stanford 68 This was a tale of two halves that saw Notre Dame trail 35-26 at one point. In the first half, the Irish shot 25.6 percent from the field, scored 26 points (12 in the paint) and was outrebounded 28-22. In the second half, they were 63.9 percent (23 of 36) from the field, poured in 58 points (40 in the paint) and outrebounded the Cardinal 26-10, which facilitated its deadly downhill fast-break attack. Young finished with a game-high 25 points and collected 10 rebounds, while Shepard had 11 points and 14 rebounds. Ogunbowale added 21 points while freshman Abby Prohaska provided quality min- utes off the bench. Final Four: Notre Dame 81, Connecticut 76 In national semifinal games, Notre Dame raised its record to 5-3 against its archrival in another clas- sic that saw the lead change hands 26 times, and also included nine ties. Notre Dame now has nine wins over UConn in the last nine years, dating back to April 3, 2011. Every other Division I team has combined for eight victories versus the Huskies the past 11 years. Trailing 30-29 at the intermission, Notre Dame tallied 52 points after the break, with Ogunbowale scoring 21 of her 23 points in the second half and Turner (15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks) applying the finishing touches. After a Shepard jumper provided Notre Dame a 74-73 lead with 1:30 remaining, Ogunbowale grabbed a UConn miss and converted two free throws. The Huskies then got the ball inside to first-team All-American Napheesa Collier for what looked like an easy score before Turner blocked the shot and grabbed the rebound. Two more Ogunbowale free throws with 40 seconds remaining provided a 78-73 cushion. 2018-19 Cumulative Stats Player G-GS Min. FGM-A Pct. 3FGM-A Pct. FTM-A Pct. Pts. Reb. Ast. TO Stl. Blk. A. Ogunbowale 39-39 1285 303-680 .446 71-198 .359 172-214. .804 21.8 4.9 147 78 74 3 Jessica Shepard 38-38 1129 268-451 .594 0-2 .000 98-138 .710 16.7 10.3 126 89 54 19 Jackie Young 38-37 1225 211-400 .528 14-31 .452 124-158 .785 14.7 7.4 192 73 49 16 Brianna Turner 39-39 1088 224-355 .631 0-0 .000 113-161 .702 14.4 7.8 62 59 43 109 Marina Mabrey 34-34 1037 160-343 .466 80-196 .408 34-49 .694 12.8 2.8 171 70 46 10 Katlyn Gilbert 7-0 111 9-20 .450 1-5 .200 6-8 .750 3.6 2.1 25 9 5 1 Mikayla Vaughn 38-0 364 53-101 .525 0-0 .000 19-30 .633 3.3 2.4 7 25 10 24 Danielle Patterson 33-1 351 41-86 .477 0-0 .000 13-18 .722 2.9 1.5 7 25 5 9 Jordan Nixon 26-3 377 21-49 .429 6-16 .375 16-19 .842 2.5 1.8 34 46 20 0 Abby Prohaska 38-3 549 18-49 .367 2-7 .286 20-26 .769 1.5 1.8 43 30 30 1 Danielle Cosgrove 27-0 131 14-48 .292 9-35 .257 0-0 .000 1.4 0.7 5 8 1 6 Nicole Benz 23-0 72 3-15 .200 0-7 .000 2-2 1.000 0.3 0.7 2 3 0 0 Maureen Butler 23-1 80 2-13 .154 0-2 .000 0-4 .000 0.2 0.5 6 5 1 1 Team 39 — 1,327-2,610 .508 183-499 .367 617-827 .746 88.8 44.3 804 531 339 199 Opponents 39 — 979-2598 .377 238-833 .286 336-474 .709 64.9 37.8 537 606 263 135